Black Widow

It is quite incredible how big the Marvel industry is, with so many popular comic books, and with really big budget films with so many comic book characters from the Marvel universe. Then we have all the toys, clothes, and of course video games as well, it never seems to stop. As long as people love the comic book characters, there will always be a big fan base for more merchandise, and films as well, since there are so many characters you can make fims of. Marvel have had a really successful run with their film adaptations of comic books, and when you look at some of the box office numbers for certain films, you realise the love the fans have for these films. And i can understand why, since i grew up reading comic books in the 80´s, and at that time my biggest favourite comic book was definetely The Incredible Hulk. I used to bring my Hulk comic books to school, that even my school friends told me:- Do you ever read anything else but the Hulk? One of my memories of films based on a comic book characters from Marvel, was back in 1992 when i got to experience the 1990 film Captain America from director Albert Pyun ( the director of the Jean-Claude Van Damme classic Cyborg ). Since the film was not out to rent on VHS at that time in my hometown, a friend of mine in school got a VHS tape from England, where you could buy the film. I still remember the first time we watched this film, and it was bad. You could tell that director Albert Pyun was not the right guy direct a film like this, since he did not know how to give the comic book character of Captain America a solid story or a great portrait either. I can still watch this film today, just for fun, to remember the bad moments of Marvel films. So if you want to have a good laugh, watch the 1990 version of Captain America. Over the years, Marvel took their comic book material more serious, and improved their quality for films based on their comic book characters, and a perfect example of that is The Avengers films. Here you find all kinds of comic book characters such as Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury and Black Widow. Speaking of Black Widow, who is played by wonderful actress Scarlett Johansson, she have been in all The Avengers films. She got her own film called Black Widow, a film that was delayed a lot because of the pandemic, but i was able to finally see it on Disney +. My plan was to see this film in cinema, but with restrictions in theatres, paying for the film on Disney + was a good option. Is this another high quality Marvel film, or is Black Widow a big dissapointment?

In 1995, super soldier Alexei Shostakov ( David Harbour ) and Black Widow Melina Vostokoff ( Rachel Weisz ) work as Russian undercover agents, posing as a family in Ohio with the children Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova. They steal S.H.I.E.L.D. intel and escape to Cuba where their boss, General Dreykov ( Ray Winstone ) has Romanoff and Belova taken to the Red Room for training. 21 years later, Natasha Romanoff ( Scarlett Johansson ), is a fugitive for violating Slovakia Accords. She escapes from U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross ( William Hurt ) and flees to a safehouse in Norway, supplied by Rick Mason ( O-T Fagbenle ). But no matter how she tries to hide, Natasha have no way out, unless she faces her destiny, that awaits her.

If you enjoyed the Captain Marvel film from 2019 ( wich i did, and wrote a positive review on this blog ), then you are going to have a good time with Black Widow. These are very different kinds of comic book characters, so it would be wrong to compare them, since they have different backgrounds, and different super powers. When it comes to the character of Black Widow, this film really gives you a much deeper look into her personality, not only from her childhood, but also who she is at this point in her life. Actress Scarlett Johansson ( who have done so many fantastic films, especially one of my favourites with her called Lost In Translation, a must see ) have no problem doing this character in her own powerful way, both delivering some really good action scenes, but also deliver some powerful dialogue scenes as well. To be honest, i don´t think they could have chosen a better actress to play this comic book character. It feels like a perfect match, and i really hope to see her return as Black Widow. We have to talk about some other great performances as well, so let us continue with actress Florence Pugh ( who made a really good performance in the mystery horror film Midsommar, the most realistic portrait of how Swedish Midsummer actually is celebrated here in Sweden ), as the character Yelena. She is tough, not fraid of challenges, and Florence really give this character a strong portrait. I really think the character Taskmaster ( played by actress Olga Kurylenko ) works surprisingly good in this film, with a very cool look as well. One unexpected scene, is to see character Natasha watch the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, on a laptop computer. It is nice that they actually did this scene in the actual film, because it brings a nostalgic feeling for fans of James Bond, and you can actually sense that Natasha have a personality that kind of reminds me of James Bond. Who knows, maybe Scarlett should take on a similar role in the future, perhaps as the unknown daughter of James Bond? The action scenes deliver some really fun moments, in classic Marvel style, as well as bring in some unexpected surprises as well. Black Widow does not only work really well as a comic book film adaptation, but also give a completely different look into the life of Black Widow, wich makes this film even more interesting. Director Cate Shortland ( who directed the powerful war drama Lore in 2012 ) have definetely managed to tell a story of Black Widow, that both feels inspiring, but also show her true identity, compared to The Avengers films. If you are a fan of the Marvel universe, you need to see Black Widow. This film will definetely warm a lot of peoples hearts with hope this autumn, and that is exactly what we need.

Rating: DDDD