Red Sparrow

When we talk about the spy genre, most of us will shout "Bond. James Bond." in your best Sean Connery impression. In reality, and most certainly in my opinion, some of the best spy films are those that focus on espionage. For instance, the John Le Carré adaptations bathed in its dialogue as opposed to action. Red Sparrow attempts to replicate that. A famed ballerina encounters a career-ending injury who is then approached by her powerful uncle who eventually transforms her into a 'Sparrow' (not literally...). Russian operatives capable of seducing their targets, to which one of them being a CIA operative. It's cold, moody and revels in backstabbing and double-crossing, two intricately explored traits of the spy genre. Full credit to Jennifer Lawrence who gives yet another committed performance, using her sexuality and serious acting talent to deliver the goods. The Sparrow School segment was intrusively interesting, Charlotte Rampling was ominous and brainwashes her pupils with such ferocity. Those scenes and the interrogations surprisingly raised the tension. Whilst I was never bored and thought the pacing was decent, I left the cinema disappointed. A character-driven story that presents no characters worth investing in. The constant need to purposefully put on Russian accents was a detriment to the outstanding talent on screen, as if these actors couldn't multi-task. The dialogue is rarely intelligent and injects no personality into these characters. The consequence of turning an espionage thriller into a mainstream blockbuster is that it sacrifices an intelligent story so that the average viewer can understand the plot, thus subjugating to monotony. The 140 minute runtime didn't bother me, and fortunately the third act elevates the much needed tension with a few twists and turns but ultimately I remained underwhelmed. I appreciate the acting, the daring sexual violence and the cold atmosphere, yet a bland story with minimal characterisation prevents an engrossing thriller. I just wanted more...

There is never a dull moment in the movie. JLaw did an amazing job although I am not much of a fan. I didn't care for her accent since she is speaking English in the movie anyway so who cares. For me her acting would have been as good without the accent as well. She portrays a cold and ruthless character and her expressions are enough to convey the message. Matthias Schoenaerts was also impressive. Ending took me by surprise. It could have been a much better movie if all Russian men were not portrayed as evil in the movie and all CIA as heroes and if graphic scenes were reduced. Nevertheless I found it more entertaining than Bond movies.

This was so much better than other reviews suggested. No, this movie is not too long. No, it isn't confusing.

Red Sparrow is almost perfectly developing the character of the protagonist, in an extreme but not unrealistic plot. There constantly is drama, conflict and (potential) betrayal.

This was a wonderful experience, which you should celebrate by paying full attention. It's not some action/agent flick you can watch on the side, to celebrate explosions and killing sprees.

I read a lot of negative reviews of this before I saw it, and although I was fascinated I was also dreading the horrifying torture scenes I'd heard about. But when I did see it myself I found it interesting, although I wish that it had been faster paced. I'd never seen a character quite like Dominika before. She was much more interesting than "Salt" and much more real than "Atomic Blonde". The characters were very memorable and believable and I am glad that I saw the film.

Great plot - great twists - gritty - great acting by Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton. Amongst the best spy thrillers I have seen. Very satisfying conclusion.