From the moment the Black Widow film was announced a couple of years back. I knew it would be everything we wanted; an iconic female character, fantastic acting, beautiful costumes, and overall a film that was sure to become one of the most iconic feminist films for our generation. What I hadn’t anticipated was the film's bravery to tackle important issues like human trafficking, the sexualization and dehumanization of young girls, and a woman’s right to choose. The emphasis on these issues made me feel like I wasn’t just watching a superhero film, but something vastly more important.
Black Widow, follows the story of famed Avenger Natasha Romanoff and her journey in between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War as she works towards a greater goal with the help of her “family.” The film features an all-star cast. Obviously, Natasha Romanoff is played by Scarlett Johansson, and she is accompanied by Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei, Rachel Weisz as Melina, and Ray Winstone as Dreykov. The film is directed by Cate Shortland and is written by Eric Pearson, Jac Schaeffer, and Ned Benson.
I started watching marvel movies at a relatively young age and completely fell in love. I remember seeing Iron Man 3 in the theaters and just being completely entranced by what was going on in front of me, and wanting to be just like them. After that, I attended nearly every midnight premiere, and my love for the films only continued to grow. The one thing that was always missing was the representation of strong women in leading roles.
To be fair, the female representation increased as the years went by, but the avengers started with just five guys and Natasha Romanoff, which as a young girl begging for representation was disheartening. But, seeing this film gave me a strange sense of nostalgia that took a weight off my chest and made me feel heard, truly heard.
The film was everything. From the moment the film began my eyes were locked on the screen in an absolute trance with everything going on on the screen in front of me. And the film only got better from there, there was excitement and action, but not in the normal superhero film way, in this case, there was a greater sense of purpose, a real-life issue, that brought the story close to home.
The film also had one of the most beautiful sister relationships I’ve ever seen in a film. As I watched, I couldn’t help but think of my sister, and text her after to remind her how much I love her. In the film, the sisters care about and love each other, but also have a fantastic badass edge that makes their relationship beyond a normal sister-sister relationship.
This film is purely due to the fantastic acting of the two leading ladies. Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh. Their performances transported you as the watcher to a completely different world, that was so convincing I had to take a moment after the film to remind myself that none of this is real. The fantastic performance goes beyond the great acting of Johansson and Pugh on their own, but together their chemistry is over the top and makes the film sheer perfection.
The film is also filled with tiny significant details, that you have to watch closely to catch. The silver earrings for Natasha while Yelena wears gold, the use of the vest, the fixing of comments in past films, and more. Trust me, just watch closely.
Overall, Black Widow has to be one of my favorite Marvel films ever. Captain Marvel was the first of the female Marvel films generation, and it was great, but absolutely nothing compared to this. This film had me looking up ways to do my hair exactly like the characters, and considering buying costumes for next Halloween. It really brought to light my experience the first time I saw Wonder Woman, I felt like my life had changed, I felt empowered, strong, and special and I’m right back in that same mode again. And with that, I can’t leave this review without saying that I would recommend it to absolutely anyone.
(Here's footage of me jumping to watch it again)