While my mom enjoyed Wonder Woman and Black Panther, she was only half-interested in this woman-led superhero feature. If Dad and I had decided to go to the theater instead of using Disney+, she wouldn't have watched. Hey, it has only a marginally better reception than Captain Marvel at present. But I still didn't feel like waiting any longer to see it.
I knew this was a prequel, but I didn't realize that most of the plot took place in the wake of Captain America: Civil War, when Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding from the U.S. government for being among the rebel Avengers. She's not actually the only "Black Widow," just the most public; there's quite an army of thusly dubbed hitwomen trained from childhood under General Dreykov (Ray Winstone). Yelena (Florence Pugh), a Widow who had basically been Natasha's foster sister for a few years, finally makes contact again out of desperation: Dreykov has been controlling the Widows' actions via a chemical compound, but a special gas in a small supply of vials can counteract the effect instantly, completely, and indefinitely. To distribute the gas as needed, Natasha and Yelena will need to learn the location of the base of operations, known as the Red Room, with help from their past ersatz parents, Melina (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei (David Harbour). Of course, they'll be up against a lot of similarly skilled women, including an intimidatingly armored elite whom Wikipedia identifies as Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
As later Marvel movies go, it doesn't rely a whole lot on knowledge of prior entries, but I did see fit to fill my parents in from time to time. Even I got confused, especially toward the beginning. For example, the first time I saw Yelena as an adult, I mistook her for Natasha; only when looking up a summary did I understand in full. Other aspects could have used a little more background, if only to bolster our caring.
At the same time, my overall impression of the plot progression was not hurried. I was more likely to find moments longer than necessary. The 134 minutes could have been trimmed to about 100. Mind you, I'm not speaking particularly of fights and other high-octane sequences that exhaust my folks. A lot of the quiet scenes, not least the starting one, dragged a bit for me. I get that they carry a certain emotional value, with Natasha figuring out what to make of her "fake" family, but we didn't find them all that moving.
Granted, some of the most enjoyable moments are in the dialogue. I like the exchanges that come across almost as improvised. By contrast, the action frequently strains credulity, drawing smart-aleck remarks from us ("Sure you don't have powers?").
To no great surprise of mine, it feels less like a superhero flick and more like a spy flick. There's even a televised James Bond clip. I detect hints of Mission: Impossible and maybe Bourne as well. That should tell you about the right level of absurdity to expect. Only Alexei, who used to be the Red Guardian but has trouble regaining respect, is often played for laughs.
What had made the difference for Mom to check it out were images of the settings. Norway, Budapest, and briefly Morocco can be pretty easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, I spent more time regretting shots that were too dark, dominated by redness, or otherwise low on color. Personally, given the Black Widow nature, I hadn't anticipated much beauty except from women's faces.
Is there a post-credits bonus? Yes. Is it worth staying for? Well, it's slow and not funny, but it might increase your excitement for a sequel. One thing's for sure: Yelena's got a future in the series. She almost outshines Natasha.
The middling ratings across sites feel about right. The long-awaited BW is not all that triumphant, but neither is it annoying. Just know where to set your expectations.
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