Film Review: Black Widow ('21, Dir: Cate Shortland)

 

Black Widow (2021)

Directed by Cate Shortland

Written by Eric Pearson (Story by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson) 

It begins and ends with pockets... and a vest.

When I decided to dive back into writing film reviews it took me a while to figure out what my approach should be. I started and restarted this particular review many times, and I often found myself jumping back into the instincts I used when I wrote reviews (somewhat) professionally. I had developed a formula that for all intents and purposes I copy and pasted with information and thoughts on each new film - give a little context (here, for example, I can talk about the pandemic delay or how this is Natasha's first solo film after appearing in 8 prior MCU films over 11 years,) perhaps regale the readers with a bit of light plot information, maybe use a phrase like "seeing the film in true IMAX with an enthusiastic audience was exactly the salve I needed after the past year and a half of the pandemic." All of that is fine and valid! In fact, I found a way in this review to have my cake and eat it too. But I've also decided that for this new era of reviews that I write I'm going to go for a more personal and casual approach. I'm sure I will find ways to bring in my old style, and I'm always going to dive into the cinematic elements of the film I like or don't (otherwise I'd be wasting my very expensive film degree, which I already do anyways!) but I want to just put my thoughts on "paper" in a way that feels authentic to who I am right now. 

So as I said... it begins and ends with pockets... and a vest. The foundation of Cate Shortland's Black Widow is the family relationship, and this is what elevated this film into one of my absolute favorites in the MCU. Yes, the surface is exceptionally strong - Shortland and her team have orchestrated a scintillating, crackerjack bit of espionage entertainment. A bit more grounded than most MCU fare, with an emphasis on hand to hand combat and intrigue, this is the MCU doing their riff on a Mission: Impossible movie and I was absolutely here for it. Composer Lorne Balfe is even along for the ride, and he has composed a terrific, propulsive score that immediately hooked me into Natasha's world. The fights, notably between our various heroes and Taskmaster, or our heroes and other Widows, have the tough hits and feel of a Bourne movie with just a little more dose of fantasy. The film continues to escalate through a series of chases and escape sequences, and although there's a bit of wonky CGI, they still provide thrills and excitement. These scenes, especially one involving a Russian prison, are, as the kids might say, dope, and by keeping the scope and scale of the film relatively internal, it allows the climatic sequences to be more focused on the emotion of the characters and their journey and not just explosions. 

What about the vest and the pockets, then? The vest represents one's ability to choose. It represents freedom. It represents independence. The vest is introduced in one of the film's most delightful scenes, building the foundation of the relationship between Natasha and her sister Yelena (Florence Pugh,) but there is a weight to the vest that continues into the film's final scenes. Although this film takes place between Civil War and Infinity War, in many ways it does function as an origin story for Natasha. Throughout her run in the MCU (notably in Age of Ultron) we hear snippets of stories about her time in the Red Room and her ledger, and this film finally delivers on the weight of that. Natasha's (and by extension Yelena's) backstory is as harrowing and horrific as any in the MCU, and it's hard not to look at it as a tale of human trafficking. Although not the most outwardly and immediately iconic of villains, Ray Winstone's Dreykov is one of the most evil and immoral the MCU has seen and his actions had me seething. 

Black Widow is also a story about family, albeit a highly dysfunctional/fabricated one similar to the TV show The Americans, and that family is used to explore both Natasha's upbringing and the moral ambiguity and complications of the Red Room. Both Alexei (aka Red Guardian) and Melina, our parental figures for better or worse, are very much complicit in the horrors that were bestowed upon Natasha and Yelena, and even with much time having passed Alexei is quick to make jokes about how proud he is of his murderous children. It is clear throughout the film that the actions and words of their "parents" took a great toll on our siblings, especially perhaps Yelena, and the film's best scene, an awkward family meal at a table, allows all of this to come spilling out. It is these moments that sets this film apart for me, that gives it a texture a little different than most other MCU films. It's not exactly Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but within the context of a superhero/spy film, it holds enough potent dramatic and awkward comedic weight to give the film snap and verve. All four actors are very much up to the task, with David Harbour being his hammiest delightful self, Rachel Weisz getting to kick ass for the first time in a long time, Scarlett Johansson delivering perhaps her finest, most nuanced work as Natasha, and Florence Pugh all but walking away with the film. Florence's Yelena is quite extraordinary. She stole my heart. Her performance is witty and lived in and dynamic, slaying with the jokes and physicality but also nailing the emotional beats as well. Florence is already a hugely accomplished, Oscar-nominated actress (and one of my new favorites) but this role is star-making. She lights up the screen in a rare, nearly unquantifiable way. I expect we'll see a lot more Yelena in the MCU going forward and I can't wait.

Considering I wasn't sure what to expect from Black Widow, it pleases me to note that it surpassed any expectations I may have had. The cold open and stylish opening credits (suggesting a James Bond film, nicely referenced by Natsha watching Moonraker on her laptop) are some of the absolute best material in the entire MCU. The film delivers on the action and thrills, with plenty of quotable banter and funny moments, while also dealing with some interesting moral quandaries and introducing new characters that made for perfect sparring (verbally and physically) partners for Scarlett Johansson. Shortland shows that she's a director to be reckoned with, and the specific gaze and tone she brings to the film is refreshing in a male-dominated industry. If Black Widow is Scarlett's swan song I'm glad she finally has a story and arc worthy of her talents. Considering we know where Natasha ends up, I finally feel like her journey may have been worthwhile.