Black Widow

Year of Release:  2021

Director:  Cate Shortland

Screenplay:  Eric Pearson, story by Jackie Schaeffer and Ned Benson, based on the Marvel comics character Black Widow created by Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck

Starring:  Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt

Running Time:  134 minutes

Genre:  Thriller, science-fiction, superhero

Superhero team The Avengers has collapsed and former assassin turned Avenger Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, (Johansson) is on the run from the US Government.  Contacted by her estranged younger sister, Yelena (Pugh), Natasha learns that the all-female team of elite brainwashed assassins known as "Widows" is still active, and she and Yelena have to confront a monstrous figure from their past and a powerful new "super-soldier" who can exactly mimic any opponent's fighting style so it's like "fighting a mirror".

This is the 24th film in the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise, based on characters and stories from Marvel Comics.  This film, however, while there are frequent references to the previous films, is by and large a stand-alone film and can be enjoyed even if you haven't seen all of the others, which is something of a relief.  The film starts off as a gripping spy thriller, although it does become increasingly science-fictional as to goes along.  As played by Scarlett Johansson, Natasha Romanoff is one of the stalwarts of the MCU franchise, but this is the first time that she headlines her own film.  By now, Johansson fits the role like a glove, and here is added Florence Pugh as her sister.  The two work really well together, and there is real chemistry.  In particular Pugh has a nice line in the throwaway delivery of comic one-liners.  David Harbour more or less reprises his gruff-but-loveable dad from Stranger Things (2016-present) but with an added Russian accent.  O-T Fagbenle appears as Natasha's own version of James Bond's Q supplying her with vehicles and equipment.   Rachel Weisz is sinisterly maternal and Ray Winstone is oilily villainous.  Olga Kurylenko does a lot with a little as a tragic, silent assassin and William Hurt has a extended cameo as the US agent on Natasha's trail.  The film has obvious nods to the James Bond franchise, acknowledged in one scene where Natasha watches Moonraker (1979), and there are nods to the TV series The Americans (2013-2018).  By and large this is a very good action film.  the action scenes and special effects are spectacular, the fighting scenes are well choreographed, the jokes are funny and there is some real emotion.  The performances, particularly from Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh, are good.  The film's main problem is that the story runs out of steam before the end, and it all wraps up a little too neatly, but it's engaging and spectacular enough that it doesn't really matter.  

By the way, as with all of the MCU films there is an additional brief scene after the closing credits, so stick around.

  Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh in Black Widow

 

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

 Year of Release:  2018

Director:  Terry Gilliam

Screenplay:  Terry Gilliam and Tony Girsoni, based on the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Starring:  Adam Driver, Jonathan Pryce, Stellan Skarsgård, Olga Kurylenko

Running Time:  132 minutes

Genre:  Action-adventure, comedy

Toby (Driver) is a disillusioned director who is in Spain shooting a commercial based on the story of Don Quixote, he also happens to be near the location of his student film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which he made with non-professional actors ten years previously.  Toby runs into his star, a cobbler, Javier (Pryce), who now believes that he really is Don Quixote, and that Toby is his loyal squire, Sancho Panza.  Javier drags Toby off in search of adventure.

This film has become almost notorious, due to how long it has been in the works.  Gilliam had been attempting to make a film based on Miguel de Cervantes' 17th century novel Don Quixote, since about 1990, and there have been several aborted attempts to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, one of which has been immortalised in the 2002 documentary film Lost in La Mancha, so Gilliam deserves some credit just for getting the thing made.  Is the finished film worth waiting nearly 30 years for?  No.  Is it a good film and worth seeing?  Yes.  This features both the good and the bad of Terry Gilliam's work.  It is sprawling, overlong, uneven and indulgent.  It is also ambitious and imaginative.  When it is good, and it is good very often, then it is truly wonderful.  At it's worse, it's just a mess but, despite it's generous running time, it's never dull.  It's also surprisingly dark.  Adam Driver is good as a pretty unlikeable character, and Jonathan Pryce is great as the frail but noble Don Quixote who becomes almost admirable in his romantic delusion.  Stellan Skarsgård is good as ever as Toby's formidable Boss, and Olga Kurylenko is very good, if underused, as the Boss' seductive wife, Jacqui.  The film covers some very familiar Gilliam territory:  The individual versus society, dreams versus reality, and the nature of sanity or insanity.  The film looks fantastic throughout with some striking locations and set pieces.  When looking at Terry Gilliam's career, it is easy to see why Quixote holds such an attraction for him, and he is to be admired for succeeding in his quest to get this film made.

It is not a perfect film, and it may not be the masterpiece that Gilliam fans may have hoped for, but it is a flawed, enjoyable, eccentric work touched by moments of genius, and I will take that over the bland, committee led franchise fare that seems to make up a lot of modern movies any day of the week.  

Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce ride out in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote