Jean-Paul’s Rating: 4/5 stars
Bottom Line: An effective Cold War II spy thriller that keeps you guessing until the end.
Yay! Russia is our enemy again! Back to thrilling Cold War spy movies but now set in modern day! Well, Russia is everyone’s enemy except our President’s and a majority of Republicans in Congress, but whatever, we still get the cool movies and maybe another “Manchurian Candidate” to boot!
“Red Sparrow” is not what I thought it was going to be. Well, I mean, it was, but it gets there in a roundabout way that I wasn’t expecting. Instead of the normal “agent by birth” scenario, Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is an accomplished prima ballerina in the Bolshoi ballet company. She is also cold and calculating in many respects. A perfect spy and a very unique way to become a spy.
The movie does a good job of playing its cards close to its chest. Because of this, it’s difficult to describe without giving away possible hints to the ending. Jennifer Lawrence plays cold and calculating well and portrays a wonderful “slightly dead inside sophistication” (1) that plays really well for a Russian spy. She has a few moments of weakness with her Russian accent (hilariously, usually when she swears), but she is otherwise perfect for the role. It would be awesome to see a “Red Sparrow II” with her reprising this role.
A word of warning, there is a fairly graphic rape scene and moments of brutal violence and torture, sometimes bordering on gratuitous, so weaker stomachs may need to look away at times. Nothing was well outside the realm of your usual deep cover spy violence, but it could still be disturbing nonetheless.
At two hours and twenty minutes, there’s a bit of fat that could be cut off the movie, but it is mostly well paced and enjoyable. There’s nothing that screams big screen so fear not if you end up watching it from the comfort of your own home. It is definitely worth watching, though, so don’t let it pass you by just because you can’t see Jennifer Lawrence as a spy. She’s a great one.
(1) Chat with Persephone, March 24th, 2018, 3:13 PM