Black Widow Review

Alright so as soon as this movie was over I decided that it needed to be two separate reviews because although it is a Marvel movie it had too many independent film qualities to ignore. So this is the review of Black Widow as if it were simply a stand alone film.

The first thing that stands out in the execution of this film is the cinematography style, it is drastically different then what we’re used to seeing in blockbuster superhero films. The low angles, dark shots, and use of framing not only came off more like an independent film but it also allowed Natasha and Yelena to convey more vulnerability than women in the MCU are normally allowed to show.

Another amazing element of this film was that all of the female characters were very different yet none of them fell into stereotypes, Yelena was so obviously badass yet she still held onto this small part of her childhood, she longed for family and connection. In this film we saw a more well rounded Nat, we saw the big sister, the protector, the woman who escaped brainwashing and trauma. Melina was a brilliant scientist who was still sympathetic and loving. I loved the way the dialogue was written, it was witty and relatable and even when there was some jargon introduced it was done in a way that made sense and didn't make the audience feel alienated.

The story itself was a brilliantly executed commentary on the horrors of femicide and human trafficking. There's a line that all social commentaries walk; On one side of the line we have preaching, lots of dialogue, exposition and self righteous speeches on the other side we have undermining the point, normally in cases of sexual assault or violence against women, this side of the line overly depicts these events in a graphic manner therefore undermining it's original purpose. this was a line that could have easily been crossed and they did flirt with it specifically in the scene where Natasha is confronting Dreykov and he is beating on her, the only reason it doesn’t cross that line is because that entire scene, Natasha is in control and she knows exactly what she’s doing and what she wants.

The Taskmaster twist was so well done, and really enforced the theme that Dreykov used, tortured, brainwashed and controlled anybody that he could to his advantage. It cemented what we’d already seen with the widow’s, Taskmaster was the most extreme case of mind control, she was a physical embodiment of the idea that this man took away any and all agency from these women.

The only not-so-awesome part of this movie was that the family angle felt a bit underdeveloped and forced. Yelena and Natasha’s relationship and natural rapport made sense, not because they lived as sisters for 3 years a million years ago but because they both went through the red room, and because they’ve been through similar experiences. However the mother and father figures to these girls absolutely felt out of place. Now there are several MCU related reasons for some of this but as a stand alone film that shouldn’t matter, they should have made that familial bond make more sense. Now y'all know I don’t complain without a way to fix it so here we go;

1) They could have written that the red room and the widows were keeping tabs on Natasha, including her “mom”.

2) The writers could have had Melina know what Nat went through and start building failsafes into her science so that the widows would have an easier time freeing themselves.

3) Could have shown Alexie get fired for trying to save his girls, beaten down and imprisoned because he wouldn’t stop trying to save them.

These are all 1-2 scene adds that would have made the family connection seem way more tangible and real.

That however was my only major gripe with the overall movie, I thought as an independent film it was absolutely brilliant and I will be watching it many times over.