BLOOD WORK: MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE: BLACK WIDOW (2021)

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE: BLACK WIDOW

MCU CHAPTER 27

Right as the Disney + Loki show ends Black Widow finally, at long last, is released. After being delayed for 14 months, due to Covid, Black Widow's first (and only?) solo film is here for all to see, both at home and in the movie theaters simultaneously (a crappy move by Disney after constantly promising a theatrical only release).

Full disclosure: I haven't been thrilled with Phase 4 of the MCU. Both WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier were let downs for me personally, both with the writing and execution. I haven't seen Loki yet and I must admit that my enthusiasm to watch it is dwindling. For that matter, I had very little enthusiasm for this Black Widow movie too.

It's not that I don't want to support a Black Widow movie, far from it actually. I've wanted a Black Widow solo movie for years. And it seemed like every studio but Marvel was interested in making a Black Widow movie. Quality aside, during the last ten years we've seen movies like Red Sparrow, The Villainess, Anna, Peppermint, Lucy (a Scarlett Johansson led film!), and many more. The Villainess is by far my favorite of the bunch, an amazing film to say the least.

It's mind-boggling why Marvel didn't push this movie out the door sooner. Captain Marvel did not need to happen when it did. That movie should've been shelved in favor of a Black Widow film, when it was still relevant. And to add insult to injury, Natasha is killed off in a nonsensical sequence in Avengers Endgame. Then, when Marvel at last delivers a Black Widow movie, Covid delays it for another year.

It would appear that the deck has been heavily stacked against Black Widow. Heck, even an MCU devotee like myself was thinking about skipping the movie altogether for various reasons, all of which boil down to a "too little too late" feeling towards it. That, and a sense of superfluity about it.

So how was it?

It was better than I expected, but it showed the path Marvel wishes to head down for the future. And that path has little regard for the past, its source material, and the people (like myself) who supported them for last decade. Fans are nice when the MCU wants their free promotion, but when the MCU doesn't need the fans anymore they have no problem brushing us and the source material aside. Based off of the comic books? Perhaps the names only.

THE PLOT (spoilers)

Black Widow is on the run after defecting to Cap's side in Captain America: Civil War. While in hiding, ghosts from her past return, and Natasha discovers that the Red Room and the man behind it are not as dead as she had believed. Teaming up with old allies from her past life as a Russian spy, Black Widow sets out to put an end to the Red Room once and for all.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

I thought the opening sequence was strong, starting the film off well. I really enjoyed the action sequences and intensity throughout the film, though there are numerous problems therein. The tone feels more in line with the Captain America films than any others in the MCU, which is appropriate. The actors all do a great job with what they're given, if only they were given better though. There are some nice quiet moments in the film too that I appreciated, yet some were still sadly diminished by Marvel's trademark humor and engagement in bathos (which has become stale and cliché by this point. Marvel's own trademark tropes are hurting them here). I also enjoyed the look of the film, a rather drab, cold, three color pallet to the visuals. It reminded me of a 90's style action film.

Now onto the problematic elements. The movie is about five years too late in getting here. The movie is a prequel, a missing chapter in the Infinity Saga... that adds nothing of significance whatsoever. Worse, we know Natasha's fate, thusly this film has no real stakes. We know the future of the MCU and all of the elements herein have no bearing on that future. An argument could be made for Yelena being the future Black Widow, but she's a character we just met, a "hand-me-down" replacement character that we have little attachment to. At least with Captain Marvel, another prequel, there was the promise that she'd effect the future of the MCU in significant ways (which didn't happen). Here there's not even a promise of something more, only signaling who may be the antagonist in the Hawkeye Disney + show.

The movie tries to invent stakes and drama though. Natasha gets beat up real bad in this film, beyond anything she's endured before. She takes brutal hits that a super soldier would have trouble walking off without the benefit of being a super soldier. Yet she endures these lethal blows with barely any trouble, shrugs it off, and continues on as if nothing happened. You are shown this illogical representation early on and this continues on throughout the film. There's huge gaps in the plot too. The third act in general feels like a series of missed opportunities, globs of CGI and green screens, and in general one giant mess... like every MCU movie. Even the writing devolves to a point where nonsense and lunacy get the better of the film.

This refusal to adhere to logic is kinda forgivable though. What becomes egregious however is the adaptation of the characters from the comics, TASKMASTER being chief among these. It's Taskmaster in name only, barely representative of the character from the comics. Iron Maiden and Red Guardian are also merely shadows of their comic book counterparts. Yelena and the terrible rendition of La Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine are also shades of who they were in the comics. This seems to be a growing trend among the MCU symbolizing they're no longer interested in adapting the source material, but rather taking bits here and there as it pleases them without context or reverence to the comics. Where once I was excited to see my favorite characters on the big screen, now I dread what kind of bastardization of a beloved character I'll see.

This illogical storytelling (which began in earnest in Avengers: Endgame and has continued heavily into Phase 4) and disrespect for the source material only serves to push me away from the MCU. I fear for what James Gunn will do with my favorite characters in Guardians Vol. 3 or how Taika Waititi will adapt Beta Ray Bill.

THE VERDICT

At best the movie is fine. It's no IRON MAN 3 but it's definitely not IRON MAN or CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER. At worst it's completely superfluous. This is strangely the first MCU movie dead on arrival, non-essential by every definition. This movie isn't for comic book fans nor for those who're dying to know where the MCU is headed. As an action movie it's okay, just don't think about the details too hard or you'll give yourself a migraine.

In short, this doesn't do anything to reinvigorate my enthusiasm for the MCU and it doesn't really give Natasha the grand send off she deserves. Hell, she still doesn't get the onscreen funeral and mourning from her fellow Avengers (or her retconned in Winter Guard teammates) that she deserves.

Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10

Personally, it's in the middle of the lower half of the 26 chapters of the MCU that I've seen