So. I watched the Black Widow movie.
What I Loved:
Yelena. Just Yelena.
 |
| Just look at her little face |
In all seriousness though, Natasha's sister made the movie—to the point that I almost feel like it should’ve been
called Yelena Belova, instead of Black Widow. Granted,
they’re both Black Widows, but, you know. I don’t think that’s a
good thing on the storytelling side (more on that later), but from an
entertainment standpoint, I didn’t mind it. Yelena is such a genuine
sweetheart, so cute and funny and sassy and NORMAL, despite all she was
subjected to and forced to do.
I think that's actually what made me fall so in love with her: the fact that she feels. So many others in that Marvel spy arena either
pretend they don’t feel or laugh it off in this wry, sarcastic kind of way, or kind
of walk around with sad eyes but never really say what’s going on. Yelena wears
all her emotions on her sleeve, totally unapologetically. She still does the
job and she focuses on the mission, but she never hides the fact that she’s
hurting or that she’s angry—and rightfully so. It was really sweet and
refreshing to see a character so fierce and powerful, yet still containing
and portraying the full gamut of human emotion and never once acting like she had
to hide that or apologize for it.
Altogether, Yelena is a
fierce cinnamon roll who deserves all the best that life can give. I would
100% watch a movie about their family adventures JUST so I could see more of
her.
What I Learned:
I thought the movie did a
really creative and nuanced job of showing different perspectives in a found
family that was originally forced together. It was interesting to watch: how the parents clearly cared about
their girls, but suppressed that and pushed away from it because of how they’d
been trained and what they were forcing themselves to believe. Alexei and
Melina did not make good choices for their children, but, at the same
time, the movie does a beautiful job of showing the little ways that they did
care—or tried to care—and could potentially do better if given the chance.
It made me want to try
writing about a family like that. The concept of found family is super popular,
but it’s always a group of people who kind of stumbled into and then eventually
chose each other. The dynamics and dysfunction in a found family that was
originally forced together, yet could still choose to genuinely love and care
about each other, that's something I would be interested in exploring in my own
writing.
What I Thought Was Lacking:
Note: this section will
have the most spoilers, just so you know. 😉
There were two major things that,
in my opinion, slipped through the cracks for this movie. The first I touched on earlier: how
you really don’t learn much about Natasha. We’ve seen her almost since the
start of the MCU, yet we know so little about her, her past, her true
personality, her hopes and dreams, etc. In the Avengers movies, it
always felt to me like she was hiding a part of herself, and that feeling was never fully resolved for me in this film. I was expecting them to open up this treasure trove of “this is who Natasha really is,” but that never
happens. Presumably, her journey is to discover her family and then rescue them, but as
far as personal growth and change as the main character OR learning about the
specifics of her past (as we do for the title characters in the Thor, Captain
America, and Iron Man movies), I didn’t see much from her.
The second issue kinda ties
into the above, namely, what even is the Red Room? How does it work, how did it
get here? Why is it here? Also, what was with the ballet thing from Natasha’s
dream sequences in Age of Ultron? The movie relies a lot on previous and
potentially comic book knowledge, which to an extent, can be done in a series
so extensive. However, because not everyone is going to follow every movie and
because we’ve waited A LONG TIME for this movie, I think it should’ve given
more specific and clearer answers, instead of just vague ideas the viewer can
try and compile from previous films. The movie also doesn’t answer villain
questions like who even is Dreykov and how did he create the Red Room?
Why does he have so much power, ability, resources, etc.? And for Pete’s sake,
why does he hate little girls? Granted, the movie is entertaining enough that I
didn’t think about any of that until after I finished it, but in hindsight, the viewer isn’t told anything about the Red Room that we didn’t previously know. And,
especially after waiting so long for answers, well, I would’ve liked more answers.
Closing:
As a whole, I did enjoy the
movie, and I’d give it about 4 stars out of 5. My only other regret is that it came
after Endgame, so Natasha’s Avengers family didn’t get to meet her
Red Room one before the major series ended. xD
Have you guys seen Black Widow? What have you thought about MCU content since Infinity War and Endgame finished off? Always love talking with you… but be warned, I have opinions. 😉
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