‘Black Widow’ is solid but too little too late

In theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access July 9

[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up]

Finally. After playing the character for nearly a dozen years, having appeared in no less than 6 movies so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU); and then a freaking pandemic that postponed its release by more than a year — Black Widow finally — finally! — comes to the big screen!

And it’s just….okay. Look, before we go any further, know this: Black Widow is a solid spy flick, with great action and immersing performances by several members of the cast. It’s just. You know… Five years too late and it feels every bit of that as you’re watching.

Let’s talk about the movie first. We open in Ohio, 1995 where a Russian sleeper cell family has been discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D., causing them to flee back to Russia where the fake family is divided and the two young girls are sent off to be brainwashed and trained as assassins.

Then we time jump 21 years to sometime just after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is reeling from the break-up of her new family, the mighty Avengers. She’s on the run, a fugitive of the Sokovia Accords and finds herself drawn into a case that goes back to her roots in Russia as an assassin in the Widow program and her ultimate defection to S.H.I.E.L.D.

She reunites with her Russian spy family, Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) aka The Red Guardian (Russian super soldier), Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), a bad ass herself who has something to do with the mind control crap everyone is using to mind control everyone else, and finally Yelena (Florence Pugh), who feels neglected by the only family who ever felt “real” to her.

So what’s the problem? Well, you saw Avengers: Endgame. I mean, I hate to give out spoilers for the biggest movie in the history of cinema, which also came out 2 years ago, but Black Widow died, soooooo — and in a pretty freaking dramatic and emotional way. It was all pretty well built up and laid out and executed and really seemed to tie up the Natasha Romanoff storyline. So going back and showing us something that takes place after Civil War and before Thanos shows up feels…pointless.

Directed by Cate Shortland from a screenplay by Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision), the film excels in it’s smaller moments, especially scenes between Natasha and Yelena, as we get to see the effect Nat had on her fake younger spy sister and how the memory of having an older sister affected Yelena and kept her grounded. This is a story about family and where we as an audience can relate the most. We’ve spent the last dozen years watching these characters grow and do battle against some pretty heavy hitters, but in a sense there’s always been a familial connection between the MCU and its fanbase.

I’m stalling. Because there’s not much else to it. You do get really good performances out of Scarlett, who continues to give the character an emotional balance; and David, because of course he’s fun to watch as a past his prime Russian super soldier who thinks he has a rivalry with Captain America; and then Florence Pugh, who nearly steals the show from her fake sister.

Ray Winstone appears as a scene-chewing Russion villain who runs the Red Room program that trained the Widows. He was a thug, called the Taskmaster, who can mimic any fighting style, so the Russians program him to watch the Avengers movies to learn their styles. It makes for a few nice action moments, but ultimately Taskmaster is kinda lame.

There’s literally no tension, no stakes. Nothing that is happening is affecting anything we know, nor is it shedding any new light on anything that matters going forward. It’s filler. It’s the backstory we should have been given five years ago. Had this been the follow up to Civil War, it would have been more like, “oh, no, Black Widow, don’t get killed before Thanos shows up!”. Instead it’s more like, “She’ll be fine…..(wink).”

It’s unfortunate because Scarlett Johansson deserves better (timing, story, etc.) because she kicks ass as this character and it’s a shame that more wasn’t done with her and what was done was…this. Which, ultimately, is a good flick that fits nicely into the MCU canon. It just feels like too little, too late. The cast is great, the action is solid. The Taskmaster is dumb. But MCU fans will have very little to complain about, even if the drama and suspense come up a little short.

Oh and I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed…..but Marvel likes to do these little after credits things. Stick around because the after credits scene for Black Widow is literally the only time the plot is advanced in nearly 2 and a half hours.

Tagged as: 2021, Black Widow, Cate Shortland, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Jac Schaeffer, Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU, Movie Review, Rachel Weisz, Ray Winstone, Scarlett Johansson