Black Widow (2021)
Spoilers?... So in theory we all know that Black Widow would survive the movie because we know where it fits into the overall time line and how she actually dies. Taking that into account, we do not know what will happen to the other characters. I found this weird for me, because I was more pulled into their story and character development then hers. I think that Disney kind of messed up when they decided to release this now instead of before End Game. I think if they would have timed it better than the audience would have been more vested in the main character.
So… with that, the character I actually liked best in this story was her little sister played by Yelena Belova. Spoiler: in the film we find out that her ‘family’ isn’t really her family, but the bonds are still strong in their own messed up way. Belova brought such humanity to the character and how even though she knew it wasn’t real, that it was real to her. It was also great having her tease Natasha about always posing and then she tries it (and does not like it). There were also so other actors of geekiness fame in here. David Harbor from the Hell Boy remake (did not like that film and I’ll try to get my review of it up soon) also has a background with DC when he was in the first Suicide Squad movie. Then there is the amazing Rachel Weisz. She is best known for her work on the Mummy movies (except the last one and I’m still upset that they recast her). In this movie she plays Natasha’s ‘mother,’ but I thought they made her character a little too stiff even though she is a scientist and a Widow.
Before I went into a movie I heard a movie theater employee trying to describe the movie to a person that couldn’t make up their mind to see it or Snake Eyes. He said that even if you don’t know the Marvel cannon that it could still be viewed as a great spy movie. In a way it did have a Bond feel to it, but I feel now after seeing it that people would be missing a lot of it if they have not seen the previous Marvel movies. An example of this was when Natasha’s sister is talking about what the Red Room did to the women to stop them from having kids. My mind instantly jumped to the scene where Natasha was talking to the Hulk when he got out of the shower. I think a lot of the script was built to trigger those type of links with fans. One of the disappoints in the movie is that we still do not know the full story of what happened in Budapest!!!!!! Now we know that Natasha and Hawkeye had to spend days in a vent, but I want more of that story. Spoiler: as is with most Marvel movies after the credits there was a scene that builds up to Natasha’s sister going after Hawkeye for his part in her death. I wonder if that will be a driving force in the Hawkeye series or a lead into another movie. Not sure how I feel about it. I wonder if her sister will remember how close she was to Hawkeye and it was not clear on if she actually viewed Hawkeye as being responsible for Natasha’s death. We’ll see.
This movie does also touch on some real-world issues like human trafficking. The driving force behind the movie is the Red Room ‘taking’ unwanted girls from around the world and turning them into weapons. Spoiler: we actually find out that Natasha was sold into the life she got even though her birth mother came to regret it and tried to get her back. Human trafficking is real and it is no different from the slavery of the past. We just call it something different to try and feel better about how bad it actually is. I would recommend that everyone educate themselves on human trafficking. I know when I work with international students it is a real possibility that they could be victims of human trafficking and it is something that we always have to watch out for. Human trafficking can hit not just immigrant groups but others as well.
Overall, I’ll give it a 4 out of 5 stars or a B. I feel like I gave it this score just because of the timing issues with its release. I feel like if I didn’t know that Natasha would live, I would have been more vested in what was happening. For Marvel movies I would still have to put it near the bottom of the list right above Ant Man.
Then also writing this I feel like I need to also address Scarlett Johansson’s suing Disney. At first I was in full support of her. I thought that it was just a major company taking advantage of a female star and breaking a contract with little care. Then I learned that she had already made 20 million from the movie and I feel less bad from her. How much money does one person need? Even after taxes that’s more money then most of us will make in our lifetime. I feel for her to look less greedy that she should donate the additional to some good cause. I’m on the fence now since to me it just looks like two greedy people bumping heads… Her team has tried to counter the money she has already gotten, by just saying she is a good business women[1]…you’re not helping her cause since it’s still a lot of money that most fans/people in general will never experience. You need a different angle…like she will donate all the extra money and that she is just sticking it to Disney to get them to do the right thing.
For more info on the fight check out:
https://www.thewrap.com/scarlett-johansson-lawsuit-disney-bob-chapek-blame-brand-carnage/
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/08/02/johansson-disney-lawsuit-movies
-This one looks at
the women’s perspective/angle that I supported until I learned about the amount
of money she had already gotten.
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