Black Widow is a (mostly) grounded, intimate story the MCU has sorely been lacking
Disney is back to releasing massive blockbuster movies in theaters every two months. Nature is healing. In all seriousness, I never thought there would be a time when I would miss the regular Marvel releases until a global pandemic shut down the world for a year. Now here we are. Theatrical releases are back. This film was a release I was not anticipating much, to be honest. I dislike prequel action films. We already know Black Widow is dead, so it is fundamentally hard to become invested in the stakes of the action set-pieces. It also felt too little too late for a spin-off movie about this character. She should have had her standalone film eight years ago. It is just a mandatory movie for Marvel executives to check off their list of properties to make movies about, making half a billion dollars each (minimum). Yet, much to my surprise, I had a great time with Black Widow!
We open in the 1990s in suburban Ohio, as Natasha is attempting to live with a family: a younger sister, a stay-at-home mom (Rachel Weisz), and a dad with a tedious office job (David Harbour). The golden hour shots of nature and their suburban home evoke an immediate and warm sense of Americana but also leave the audience with a sense of unease. We see it all through the hopeful optimism of a young Natasha, but we can also tell something is not right. There is an artificiality to the affair and an underlying sense of tension in the interpersonal exchanges and how the camera lingers in a voyeuristic way. This, coupled with the fact that we know Natasha did not have such a rosy upbringing, creates some legitimate dread in the opening moments. It is quickly revealed the family is deep-cover Russian agents, and they have been compromised. The tense, paranoid chase that follows sets the tone for the rest of the film: claustrophobic, intense, and tinged with melancholy regret. Director Cate Shortland crafts a tight film that is remarkably self-contained and focused on the core of Natasha’s trauma and the lost family that has loomed over her for her entire life.
The film takes Natasha’s origin as a spy and embraces it, drawing far more from the stylings of Bourne and Bond than the other MCU films (until the finale anyway, which we will get to later). The camera is more hand-held and instinctual, channeling a kineticism in the action scenes, very unlike the unnoticeable style of cinematography Marvel films are known for. Likewise, the opening credits establish this tone, with a soulful (if on-the-nose) cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit over footage of assassinations, insurrections, and human trafficking. While not exactly subtle, for me, it worked to establish the world Natasha operated in before her Avenging days. In hiding after the events of Civil War, she receives a package from her long-estranged sister that results in her being targeted by a mysterious superhuman assassin. Barely surviving, she is forced to run home to find the answers she is looking for and, in the process, reckon with the past Nat thought she had left behind.
At this point, we meet the real delights of the film: her younger sister Yelena (played with an intensity and vulnerability by Florence Pugh). Subject to the same trauma as Black Widow, Yelena resents Natasha for escaping without her and ridicules how Natasha uses her heroic exploits to make up for her past misdeeds. “We are both still trained killers. Just one of us is on the cover of a magazine.” Pugh and Johansson have electric chemistry from the first moment, letting their line delivery and body language fill in the lines of a traumatic relationship full of abandonment and resentment but based on an unconditional bond. The dynamic between them (and later both parents) is the highlight of the film. They are forced to overcome the artificiality of their past bond and acknowledge what they mean to each other. Harbour is a terrific actor who has demonstrated time and again his ability to use his natural humor to reveal deep insecurity and pain. Likewise, Weisz provides a dynamic and layered performance far beyond the way her part was written.
The entire MCU franchise revolves around the concept of “found family.” Yet, Black Widow is one of the few entries (along with the excellent Guardians of the Galaxy films) that embrace the complicated nature of those relationships. These are not your usual heroes; they are flawed and broken people who have hurt each other deeply. The film does not shy away from this fact or undercut it with quips (though there is a surprising amount of genuine humor to be found in this dark story, primarily thanks to the actor’s chemistry). Instead, it embraces the moral and emotional ambiguity with emotional intelligence that the franchise has only reached in the aforementioned GOTG films. The moments of heartfelt conversation and interplay between them are when the movie is at its peak.
This emotional arc plays out over the course of this action-thriller that has the heroes constantly evading this pursuing supersoldier and the other widows controlled by the grand villain, Dreykov (to quote a different spy franchise, the author of all of Natasha’s pain). The action is given immediacy and tension that grounds it: these are strictly human people (or mostly at least, since Harbour plays the Red Guardian, the Soviet’s answer to Captain America). These people are not gods or titans, nor do they have iron suits. They are constantly on the defensive, running away from an enemy that overpowers and out-guns them. Shortland gives the action a sense of grounded physicality that feels like a breath of fresh air: each punch has weight and impact. The geography of the scene and environment are given importance. There are set-ups and payoffs of threats. These things sound basic, but such solid fundamentals of action are pretty rare in such big-budget fare that it was satisfying to behold. There is still some over-editing at times, but there is still clarity and intensity that is impressive to see on display here.
The story barrels forward at a rapid pace but also is surprisingly unconventional. The stakes of the finale are unusually staged, where the goals are not simply to overpower the enemy but to outsmart them. There is a poignancy as the story turns into its final act, and the characters switch from the reactive, survival mode they have been in the whole film to actively choosing to face the traumatic past they have run from for so long. It is legitimately great dramatic stuff… which is why it is all the more annoying when the finale devolves into the same perfunctory and weightless CGI bloat that accompanies the finale of almost all Marvel films. The grounded nature of the story and action is traded for spectacle for the sake of spectacle, and it feels almost obligatory. The studio knows that audiences expect large-scale spectacle in this franchise, and every film has to fit that mold. At that moment, you can see the story the filmmakers want to tell, stretching to escape the confines of studio mandates but not quite managing it. Those moments of free-falling CG spectacle (that you have seen advertised in the trailer) are still done with enough competence that they are passable and even enjoyable.
Nevertheless, they feel like a letdown compared to the reflective and tense moments that have come before. The rest of the film legitimately feels like a Bourne film in style and scale, and then it is turned into something more massive and artificial. The humanity and intimacy of the story are lost for a bit, although (without spoilers) it mostly manages to stick the landing in its final moments. Black Widow was a delightful surprise for the most part. It is undoubtedly still a Marvel film, with many of the problems that plague the franchise, particularly in the much weaker third act. But the writing and direction deliver an emotional acuteness and groundedness that makes it stand out among its peers. Johansson has been a this for over a decade, and her performance is full of confidence and effortless emotionally. This story is her goodbye to this character, and Natasha went out on a high note from this franchise.