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Jul 7, 2021 · Black Widow Rated PG-13 for spy vs. spy stabbings, fisticuffs and some naughty Russian words. Running time: 2 hours 13 minutes. ... Maya Phillips is a New York Times critic at large. She is the ...
Jul 9, 2021 · The best aspects of “Black Widow” echo the ‘70s spy movie tone of one of the best films in the MCU, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”Director Shortland and writer Eric Pearson (an MCU vet behind both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame,” along with Thor, Spider-Man, Ant-Man films and the ABC TV shows) unabashedly pull from beloved action and espionage classics with ...
MOD. Black Widow: Critic Reviews Megathread. MOD POST. Rotten Tomatoes: 85% - 7.1 out of 10 Average Rating - 124 Reviews. Metacritic 70/100 - 31 Reviews. Written Reviews (Note that all these reviews may contain spoilers): Empire - Nick De Semlyen - 4/5. It shouldn’t really have taken 11 years for the Widow to get her own standalone adventure.
Jun 29, 2021 · The reviews for Marvel Studios' Black Widow are here, and it seems like the movie, whose release was delayed by over a year due to COVID-19, was worth the wait. Many critics praised it for its ...
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By Axel Metz
published 29 June 2021
A refreshingly grounded adventure
(Image credit: ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.)
For many reasons, timing isn’t on the side of Black Widow. Numerous Covid-related production delays have kept the Scarlett Johansson-led origin story in limbo for over a year, where it has found itself the biggest victim of Disney’s tug of war between releasing its newest properties on streamers, in theaters, or both.
One of Black Widow’s biggest wins is its almost seamless blending of genres.
It tells a fairly run-of-the-mill prequel tale – Natasha is forced to confront the as-yet unexplored demons of her past – but one that is still original enough within its overarching superhero genre to feel fresh. We haven’t seen this sort of slow-burning (and at times dark) espionage action in the MCU since 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and while the movie doesn’t go anywhere other spy thrillers haven’t gone before, it’s able to distinguish itself by occasionally leveraging Marvel’s trademark, goofy charm to great effect.
Black Widow is a serious action movie fronted by a comic book superhero, and so has the freedom to cherry pick the best elements of its inspirations. Broadly speaking, it becomes increasingly Marvel-like as the plot moves through its three acts, but its opening hour bears more than a few hallmarks of a Jason Bourne or Bond thriller.
Seriously, at times, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Matt Damon or Tom Cruise stand in for Johansson as she navigates high-speed car chases and on-foot pursuits through metro networks. It helps, too, that Mission: Impossible composer Lorne Balfe is on hand with a score that feels decidedly less Avengers-y and more, well, Mission: Impossible – which complements Black Widow’s change in tone.
Then there’s the gritty apartment fights, earpiece-assisted prison escapes, unglamorous globe-trotting between Budapest, Morocco and Cuba and an opening title sequence similar to Natasha’s flashback scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron – which itself is an early indicator of the film’s surprising thematic darkness.
The point being, this is a side to Marvel we haven’t seen for a long time. It’s nice to see our heroes as the pursued rather than the pursuers, beholden to the laws of gravity and engaging in actual hand-to-hand combat. We’re treated to a potent mix of thoughtful dialogue and relentlessly high-octane action sequences, without the CGI-fueled, laser-shooting chaos of recent MCU experiences.
Unsurprisingly, Johansson is as good as the butt-kicking Natasha as she’s ever been – but it’s the movie’s ensemble cast that really make Black Widow as watchable as it is.
As Natasha’s stand-in Soviet spy parents, Alexei and Melina, David Harbour and Rachel Weisz are excellent. The pair bounce off one another with all the natural chemistry of a genuine married couple, and Harbour, in particular, offers some great comic relief against Johansson’s steely Natasha.
His Alexei – who doubles as the once-impressive Soviet supersoldier, The Red Guardian – is also one of the few vehicles through which the movie references other MCU heroes, given his character’s deep-rooted hatred-cum-admiration for Captain America. But that’s about all the inter-universe nods we get – save for a customary post-credits scene – which makes for a refreshingly standalone adventure.
Florence Pugh, though, is Black Widow’s ace in the hole. As Yelena, she not only provides Natasha with the sounding board to explore the darker elements of her past, but serves as a fascinating character study in her own right. She matches her Avengers counterpart for fighting skill and trumps her for humor, cracking the best of the movie’s jokes and throwing its coolest punches.
Still, as with most Marvel movies, Black Widow isn’t without its faults. It takes a few Hulk-sized creative liberties with some of its stunts, and contains the usual helping of “how did they get there?” moments you expect to find in most espionage thrillers. Its villains, too, are insipid, altogether lacking in the menace that made previous franchise baddies like Thanos or The Winter Soldier so effective. Ray Winstone is neither threatening nor convincingly Russian as the evil puppeteer Dreykov, while the Arkham Knight-like Taskmaster is far too G.I. Joe to be taken seriously.
But it’s a testament to Black Widow’s effectiveness elsewhere that none of that really matters. This is a movie about putting a fan-favorite character front and centre, giving Johansson’s Natasha the room to dig into her past and fans the chance to enjoy a story that isn’t preoccupied with building for the future.
After years spent teaming up with Norse gods and armoured billionaires, Black Widow is the accomplished self-contained adventure its titular heroine deserves – a bona fide spy thriller that switches up the recent Marvel formula in refreshing ways. Johansson won’t be returning as Nat, but Cate Shortland has helmed a fitting end to her decade-long stint in the MCU.
Black Widow is due to be released in theatres on July 9, 2021, and will also be available to stream via Disney Plus Premier Access.
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Jun 29, 2021 · June 29, 2021. Before she got her own movie, Black Widow had to die. Two years ago, in Avengers: Endgame, we witnessed the demise of Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. It was an emotional ...
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