Black Widow

Original title:	Black Widow
Director:	Cate Shortland
Release:	Cinema
Running time:	133 minutes
Release date:	09 july 2021
Rating:

In Marvel Studios' action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

Marianne Velma's Review

Finally! After nearly a year and a half of no movies, Marvel Studios is making a comeback in theaters. The flagship of this new superheroic wave is Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. First observation, considering its numerous bravura pieces, the feature film signed by the Australian Cate Shortland (second woman to join the Marvel team after Anna Boden on Captain Marvel) deserves its place on the big screen. In some cases, patience has virtues... that Disney + does not have.

With this origin story, Marvel takes the opportunity to develop its cinematographic grammar. After the superhero movie, the space opera and the fake Shakespearian drama, Black Window ventures on the lands of the spy movie. More exactly on those of a certain James Bond. On the menu: a megalomaniacal villain, a spectacular secret base and twirling action sequences that would make the Queen's favorite spy green with envy. Nothing is missing... except the sexist clichés.

In fact, Black Widow goes even further than the simple feminist packaging. Women capable of defeating men in fistfights or knife fights is nothing new. But to talk about these characters by integrating the sufferings linked to their gender, here is a nice way to redefine the codes. The script does it in a surprising way, at the bend of an anodyne conversation, to better challenge the spectator. More than Girl Power, it is the sorority that the film invokes with a certain elegance. For the rest, the film unfolds its "Marvelian" know-how with an almost perfect sense of timing.

The introductory scene could be a textbook case in blockbuster training. The stakes are clearly and efficiently exposed while introducing a dose of extravagance totally assumed. It's a pity that this madness is limited to the members of Natasha's (very, very) dysfunctional family. But what a pleasure to see this four-star cast (David Harbour, Rachel Weisz and Florence Pugh) shattering traditional family precepts. My little finger tells me (well, the post-credits sequence) that we will see Yelena again in the next Avengers adventures. Can't wait to see if her cinematography is compatible with the rest of the MCU...

Black Widow
Directed by Cate Shortland
Produced by Kevin Feige
Screenplay by Eric Pearson
Story by Jac Schaeffer, Ned Benson
Based on Black Widow by Stan Lee, Don Rico, Don Heck
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz
Music by Lorne Balfe
Cinematography : Gabriel Beristain
Edited by Matthew Schmidt, Leigh Folsom Boyd
Production company : Marvel Studios
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date : July 3, 2021 (TFF), July 7, 2021 (France), July 9, 2021 (United States)
Running time : 134 minutes

Seen on june 28 2021 at Publicis Cinémas, Room 1

Marianne Velma's Mark:

Mulder's Review

To Florence,

To think that it has been more than two years since we had the chance to discover in theaters (in Imax) a movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Spider-man Far From home (2019)). Just as Thanos snapped his fingers and changed the Marvel universe forever in Avengers: Infinity War, the world as we have known it has been changed forever with this global pandemic linked to Covid 19. Yet our desire to remain addicted to discovering a movie in excellent conditions in theaters remained intact. We certainly had our dose of blockbuster thanks to streaming platforms like Disney + and Netflix but nothing beats the discovery of a blockbuster in theaters in Imax (especially if, as here, the movie is in 3D and Imax). Postponed three times, this missed appointment with a film that focuses on the character of Black Widow, will it allow us to find these spectacular scenes and this jubilant side of seeing a comic book with its exciting plot and especially this bigger and louder side that characterizes the films of Marvel Studios in the cinema.

The answer we will give is a big yes, but we feel throughout the story a will to propose something else than a movie with oversized special effects and with too many characters. Those who came to look for a decal of the Avengers movies may leave the film half happy as here the will of the scriptwriters Jac Schaeffer, Ned Benson is to propose more a spy movie in the line of James Bond and other Jason Bourne than a comic book mixed with a peplum. Scarlett Johansson takes over her role of Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow for the ninth time (Iron Man 2 (2010), Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019)) and the film takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) when Natasha Romanoff is on the run and chased by the U.S. military represented by Thaddeus Ross was a general of the U.S. Air Force (still played by actor William Hurt). Here she is confronted with her past as a spy and has to deal with a powerful businessman worthy of the best villains in the James Bond universe.

While most Marvel films begin with a strong entrance, the rather clever script sees the first scene of the film take place in 1995 when Natasha is still a young child, she seems to have a little sister, Yelena and caring parents, Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Wiesz) and Alexei Shoslakov (David Harbour). We soon learn that this family is a fake family whose father is a spy for Russia. After escaping from the United States to Cuba, Natasha and Yelena are separated from their fake parents and end up in a base to be over-trained as spies. This perfectly mastered introduction scene announces the color and shows that Black Widow is heading towards a real spy movie. The obvious nod to the James Bond film saga is even stronger as we see at one point Natasha watching on her television one of the films of this saga and she seems to know perfectly the dialogues.

As in the best spy films, the scenario is conducive to excellent action scenes and many chases and especially the action takes place in several countries that it is Morocco, Budapest, Norway, the United States and in other countries. Despite the presence of a powerful caid, we find all the DNA of the Marvel movies with the character of Taskmaster (which we will not say who is hiding behind the mask) and several allusions well brought to Captain America whose character of Alexei Shostakov is here the Soviet version and answers name of Red Guardian. While Black Widow seemed to hold all the attention of the audience, a new heroine almost succeeds in getting the attention of the audience thanks to the perfect interpretation of Florence Pugh who confirms once again that she is a great actress. Discovered in the independent film The Young Lady (2016), she has not ceased to know how to choose perfectly her films and to gain a real worldwide fame. The Black Widow movie will definitely cement her global career and we can expect to see her character return many times in the Marvel universe.

For those of you who shed a tear when you saw Natasha Romanoff's fate in Avengers: Endgame, this film marks the farewell of an actress who is equally at home in American independent films and successful blockbusters. We can't advise you enough to stay until the end of the movie to discover a post-credits scene clearly announcing the next events. This scene taking place in a cemetery where her grave is present confirms that the character of Yelena Belova will be back in the Marvel universe (we won't say more) to our great pleasure. Once again, Marvel Studios offered us a great movie to discover in Imax and above all gave life to fascinating and perfectly portrayed female characters. We leave the movie with only one desire, to see it again to see details that we would have missed. Indeed, we suspect that in the Marvel comics, Yelena Belova will be the next Black Widow, even if in the movie she never stops ironizing the pauses that Natasha Romanoff takes before starting a fight.

Seen on July 7, 2021 at Gaumont Disney Village, Imax seat F20

Mulder's Mark: