It seems almost a lifetime ago since we had a film released that is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
With the pandemic pushing many things back, this gave many fans of this franchise time to reflect and revisit one of the most celebrated film series of the last decade. It also saw people checking this universe out for the first time during that period.
Now that many people have caught up, we now have a new addition that has been demanded by many demographics for some time. Given how the central character ended up in Avengers: Endgame, I was intrigued to see when this feature would be set and how it would expand the world and which plot strand would it expand on.
While I felt fairly entertained and satisfied by it, it is a bit of a comedown after what felt like a monumental culmination of twelve years of work in 2019. The story does expand on the central character, and the opening scene certainly sets the tone for a more distressing one. After that, I felt like I was watching something closer to a Jason Bourne film than an MCU film.
Given the character and their background, I should expect all of what I've said. But as the MCU is kind of family orientated, I cannot see this being an accessible film for the younger audience. There is little superhero/fantasy action and instead it's more a solid spy thriller with hints of superhero connections.
For older viewers, I feel this will get a decent reception. But I fear it may be ranked towards the bottom of the franchise with Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World. That does not deem it a bad film in my book. It just won't fell as memorable as many of its predecessors. The story is a solid one, the characters and action kept my attention, the visual effects continue to showcase the improvement in the technology and look evermore seamless and the score by Lorne Balfe fits the setting perfectly.
The cast is pretty stellar and they all did a good job in my view. Scarlett Johansson carried the film as the lead and can still kick some serious ass with some high quality physical acting. I was so happy to see Florence Pugh now part of the MCU as I am a big fan of hers. I felt she had believable chemistry with Johansson and never felt out of place. David Harbour was a nice surprise and gave us a memorable character with an interesting backstory that I hope gets expanded on somewhere.
Rachel Weisz was perfectly fine in her role and supported her colleagues well when needed. While there was a questionable Russian accent coming from Ray Winstone, it was consistent which I do appreciate. His role as a villain was as you would expect with most MCU villains.
I also have to give credit to O-T Fagbenle who was a nice bit of comedic relief and Olga Kurylenko who I always enjoy in a film, no matter how underused.
Overall, it is a perfectly fine piece of entertainment. I was never bored by it. But I fear this may end up being one of my least re-watched instalments within the franchise in the future. There is very little in the action and story that made me want to instantly see this again. But as I was watching it, there was enough for me to give it a pass as it never felt like a wasted journey to the cinema. Given the long wait since the last one, most people are probably hoping for a big re-introduction. I don't feel we got it with this one. But it was nice to see some added backstory to a celebrated character.
I must mention that there is the usual post-credit scene and I was pleased with myself that I got the location of the scene correct. The content was a nice little set-up and teaser to one of the studios upcoming projects that I hope succeeds.
Rating: 7/10
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