Err, the Bride doesn't even know that her daughter has survived until the very end of the film, so that doesn't work at all. The "emotional heft" is the drive for revenge.
I didn't think her character was at all interesting until we learned that her daughter was still alive - and that revelation threw the entire rest of both volumes into a different perspective. Long before Kiddo learns she's (still) a mom, we're waiting to see how she'll react to that very revelation. It can be
suspenseful and
interesting to know things protagonists don't. Why else do you think Hitchcock told the audience the truth about Madeleine halfway through
Vertigo, even though Scottie doesn't learn it until the end? So yes, my observation "works at all." Kiddo is mainly interesting
because she's a killer who happens to be a mother also.
Does The Fifth Element count as an actioner with a female protagonist?
Not really, since it was sold as a Bruce Willis film.
Quite. Like Sarah Connor in
T2, Leeloo was an action co-lead at most, and her action chops were balanced by her total unfamiliarity with the world around her - hardly a template for a Black Widow movie.
And that's still an false binary you've set up for us, that she must either be a momma bear or a lesbian (for your titillation).
Right, because there's no way an entire Black Widow movie would be at all exploitative of ScarJo's hotness. How low and crude of me to reduce such a profound cinematic endeavor to a money-making male fan service popcorn titillator.
As for the binary choice, I'll admit third options when I see any good ones.
Also, looking at female action leads; aside from the aforementioned Sarah Connor and Beatrix Kiddo, you've also got Ellen Ripley.
Two mothers and Ripley (who I understand looks after a little girl in the second movie - sounding familiar?). Right, well, I still haven't seen any of the
Aliens; I've been hoping to catch them on a big screen for the first viewing, and thus do them justice, but since since I've never seen them come to any rep houses, it might be finally time to bite that bullet. But if I'm not mistaken, Ripley is hardly intended to be the super-powered ass-kicker Black Widow is anyhow, no?
And whatever you can say about Underworld or Tomb Raider, Beckinsdale and Jolie as action leads weren't a problem.
Never said they were. Your point?
As for the rather petite Portman, they'd have to make her a Kryptonian to give her
any action-star credibility whatsoever!
