Another Take: ReelBob: ‘Black Widow’ ★★★½

An action-filled farewell that pays homage to Scarlett Johansson and her iconic Marvel character.

I liked “Black Widow.” The latest feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe went by in a flash. It was an enjoyable blur of action and CGI pyrotechnics.

You cannot fathom that it runs 133 minutes; it races by that quickly.

And the best part is that it introduces a new star to the MCU — Florence Pugh as Yelena Bolova, sister of Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow of The Avengers.

What is highly exciting about “Black Widow” is the number of women in front of and behind the camera. The vast majority of those who battle Romanoff and Bolova are female adversaries.

The director is Cate Shortland, with three features, a few short films and more than a dozen TV episodes to her credit; film editor Leigh Folsom Boyd’s credits include “Ant-Man,” “Fast & Furious” and “Fast Five”; and as you scroll through the credits, the names of dozens of women appear in mostly every category.

It’s a thrill and about time that more women join Patty Jenkins and Kathryn Bigelow as directors in genres once considered a male domain.

Sorry, off the soapbox and back to “Black Widow.”

The movie, set between the events in “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” is sort of an origin story about how Romanoff became Black Widow, giving glimpses into her life before joining S.H.I.E.L.D. and becoming an Avenger.

It seems that Romanoff was one in a series of Widows, female assassins and spies, created by Dreykov (Ray Winstone), an evil Soviet spymaster during the Cold War.

The plot is secondary to Romanoff’s emotional journey — regretting many missions she undertook and the lives they claimed. “Black Widow” is a valedictory to the character who sacrificed herself in “Avengers: Endgame.”

“Black Widow” introduces us to Romanoff’s “family” — the two adults and younger girl with whom, as a child, all lived in the United States, as sleeper spies — a nod to the TV series, “The Americans.”

Once they are discovered, the family flees to Cuba, where the girls are separated from their “father,” Alexei Shostakov, aka, “Red Guardian” — a Russian version of Captain America” — and their “mother,” scientist Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz).

The girls are taken by Dreykov to the Red Room, where he trains them in spy craft and murder.

Years later, while working for S.H.I.E.L.D., Romanoff is assigned to assassinate Dreykov. The mission, believed a success, also results in collateral damage that haunts Romanoff for the rest of her life.

“Black Widow’s” emotional foundation is built upon the relationship between Romanoff and Bolova. The younger woman harbors a ton of resentment against her older “sister,” believing Romanoff abandoned her.

Like Romanoff, Bolova became one of Dreykov’s puppets, trained to do his nefarious bidding.

Pugh, who was in “Lady Macbeth” and “Midsommar,” and was memorable as Amy in Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women,” has the best lines in the movie. She is acerbic, cocky, confident, scarred and exciting as the young woman who sees every challenge as an adventure.

Johansson brings a wistfulness to her character, looking backward and inward at the mistakes she has made and the consequences she now faces because of them.

Harbour, best known for his role on the TV series “Stranger Things,” is the comedy relief, filled with braggadocio as the Russian super soldier, while Weisz provides a quiet slyness and intelligence as the scientist who is usually one step ahead of the bad guys.

If this is indeed Johansson’s last hurrah in the MCU (you never can tell in these movies), then it is a fitting goodbye for one of the stalwart performers who has helped make these movies a worldwide phenomenon.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

BLACK WIDOW
3½ stars out of 4
(PG-13), intense action and violence, language, thematic material