7/10, but the only thing holding it together was a strong performance from Scarjo as Nat. I feel like the creative team copied a lot of beats from the Winter Soldier and had some good ideas but couldn't execute them at more than a passable level- which really highlights just how good the Russo brothers were, had they worked with this material....I have no doubt it would have been an unmitigated triumph.
I've read lots of reviews stating that Pugh was the MVP and I respectfully disagree.
The first 45 minutes was pretty solid and tonally consistent. There are a couple of bits where Nat walks away from impacts that would have killed any human, but hey it's a superhero film. That opening sequence nicely establishes the characters.
The dynamic between Scarjo and Pugh felt a little awkward at times, but when things really start to struggle is about an hour in, with the Red Guardian Rescue - because the tone shifts to the ridiculous. Up until this point the film's been pretty serious with a little bit of humour to keep the tone from getting too heavy.
In any action thriller you need moments of levity but good writers and directors are restrained with these so they don't undermine the overall tension of the film.
The "family reunion" was such a glaring tonal shift, only Scarjo's acting kept that scene from becoming a total farce - and undermines the solid introduction the film had so ably set up.
Pugh lost me here, coming across as an angry teenager - rather than a highly trained professional assassin and spy, someone who should be able to put feelings aside for the sake of a mission.
The suggestion that no one told her that life in Ohio was fake is just ridiculous, I mean haven't they already discussed that, or that she couldn't figure it out ( given the manner of their departure) or she was stubbornly holding on to the belief it was real...all of those suggest she's stupid as well as immature.
The pacing also slows to a crawl here, and while it was necessary to slow down a bit before the 3rd act I felt all the momentum slip away - and I was grateful when the fighting started so that the awkward family conversations could stop.
These are all things a better writing team and director could have avoided. This also plays out in the action; there are some slick moves but overall the fights don't have much of a narrative, they're just punching and kicking until someone has had enough.
When Nat fights the controlled widows, 3 of them attack while the rest watch- one of the worst tropes from old king fu movies. And of course Nat displays a healing factor to rival Wolverine, as the intense beating she took from the Widows doesn't slow her down at all, nor impact her mobility at all in the final fight with Taskmistress.
Something else worth thinking about is Melina's role in the overall story. She was complicit in procuring and enslaving young women for Dreykov, she masterminded the mind control tech ( and she tortured pigs, and I'm not okay with that).
In many ways, she's nearly as much the villain as Dreykov yet the story gives her a pass - because she turns on him and helps Nat.
Dreykov was a typically detestable villain, in the hands of a capable actor, but barely in the film.
The pheromone lock ? Really, Nat is able to sever a nerve by head butting a table ? I've had my nose broken by a punch and could still smell ( although at the time that was the least of my problems).
Surely there was a smarter way to do all this.
The big CGI fest at the end was typical MCU, but not one of their better ones.
The Taskmistress gender swap didn't really bother me, although the original character is interesting enough not to require it, I can see why it was done to fit the character into the story. Waste of an actress of Kurylenko's talent though.
So in summary, a decent action thriller with a good lead, but not the best of the MCU by any measure.
Where it falls apart are the writing and pacing- probably because Disney gave a 200 mil$ project to folks with very little pedigree.
All in all it felt like a film whose main purpose was to set up Pugh as Scarjo's replacement , which it achieved. I feel like with a smarter writing team and director could have done better.
There are a few very similar beats to the Winter Soldier , but unfortunately they aren't done as effectively and as a result none of the key moments are anywhere near as satisfying.