2.5/5 Star Rating

Jennifer Lawrence is back on the big screen as Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova. The young Russian has a promising career ahead of her in ballet, which is unfortunately cut short due to an on stage injury. Dominika's mother Nina (Joely Richardson) is suffering from what appears to be a debilitating long term illness which requires her to have a carer by her side to assist her with daily life. Her carer and Nina's treatment is paid for by the company that Dominika dances for. Now that she is no longer able to dance, her mother loses her carer and Lawrence's character has to step up to take on the role to care for her parent and find a way to bring home the funds to do so. Due to these unforeseen circumstances, Dominika is then blackmailed by her uncle Vanya Egorov (Matthias Schoenaerts). He promises to continue to fund her mother's treatment and care, but only if his niece becomes a 'Sparrow'. A sexually manipulative agent for the Russian Intelligence Agency. Her task is to track down and keep tabs on CIA Agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) who has been known to have made contact with a mole within the Agency in Moscow.

Red Sparrow, is the first film that audiences have seen from director Francis Lawrence since his directorial efforts of the last three films from The Hunger Games series. Which also starred Jennifer Lawrence. No relation. Red Sparrow is actually an adaptation of the novel that goes by the same name which was written by former CIA operative James Matthews. The author had his book published in June 2013, but had already sold the movie rights for his story before it went to print for an impressive seven figure amount and was also awarded a contract for a sequel. Does this mean another film for us too?

Interesting fact: In each chapter of Matthew's book it includes a reference to a specific food and a recipe at the end.

Official Red Sparrow Film Trailer - Courtesy of YouTube

The story may be one that might resonate well with those of you that happen to be fans of Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans of the MCU have been practically begging for a solo film featuring the popular character Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff who is currently being portrayed by actress Scarlett Johansson. When the synopsis was revealed for this film it was easy to see why fans of the MCU became super hyped. A ballerina turned spy. So unfortunately this part of Red Sparrow's story wasn't exactly an original concept.

The film starts off strong and very promising, with a beautifully elegant opening sequence showcasing Lawrence's character on stage during what would have been her final ballet performance, alongside scenes of CIA Agent Nate Nash (Edgerton) meeting an informant in a dark and misty park. The scenes flash back and forth between the two entirely different situations with music from the ballet playing in the background, which ultimately leads up to Dominika's brutal injury on stage in front of hundreds of people. The opening is a bold start and clearly sets up the entanglement of the two background stories and the main characters for the rest of the film. After intense surgery Dominika returns home to live with her mother. Even though she is injured herself, she still has to be able to care for her parent as there is no longer a carer on hand due to a lack of income. At this point it is when audiences are introduced to Dominika's uncle Vanya 'Ivan' Egorov (Schoenaerts) who puts his niece in a very difficult position. Become a 'Sparrow' for the Russian Intelligence Agency or let her mother suffer without treatment or care. This is where the film starts to kick it up a notch. Dominika attends what she eventually calls "whore school", where she meets Charlotte Rampling's Matron and is also given a new identity. Matron is a stern (probably a huge understatement), cold hearted woman with very low morals in order to run her school in the way that she intends. Sparrows are taught to lure in unsuspecting targets sexually in order to manipulate them to gain information about their task at hand, no matter what the cost may be.

During scenes that show Lawrence's character at this training facility there are some horrendous scenes on display. They include acts of rape, abuse and intense torture - even showing our main character, Dominika helplessly tied to a chair with while boiling water is poured over her leaving her screaming. It is definitely not a film for sensitive viewers. The film is actually certified as suitable for an audience aged 15 or older. I personally believe that this film should have been certified for over 18's and mature audiences. If I was a parent to a 15 year old then this is not a film I would be willing to let them view. Later in the film the scenes contain mass amounts of sexual violence and also become more gruesome, leaving the film to actually more of a bloody gore fest than anything else.

By this point in the film if, like me you were already bored or just fed up of seeing these horrific scenes, then you may as well just walk out of the cinema and head home. The film continues to only have more of the same. Sexual exploitation, blood, gore and more torture. The trailer for the film promises an action packed thriller spy movie. It really isn't, which was very disappointing.

The feature is full of scenes that are fairly dull and long with characters having bland conversations, making me come to the conclusion that the film was just dragging on and on and I was thankful for it to finally finish. Unfortunately Joel Edgerton's character was also pretty dull, bland or 'vanilla' in the words of Christian Grey. I don't think this was by any fault of the actor, but he was given a character that wasn't particularly exciting to watch on screen. Sorry Joel. Now in general I'm not a huge fan of Jennifer Lawrence's work. But even this film undermines her ability as an actress. For me she can't be beaten in her role as Mystique/Raven in the X-Men films. Yes in Red Sparrow she played her part well and managed to pull off a pretty decent Russian accent - although her American accent shines through as she swears which is quite amusing. But she is far better than this role. On the other hand she is the only reason why I actually stayed sitting in my seat in my local cinema as her character's progression was the only remotely interesting part of the entire film. Don't get me wrong, if you like films that feature a lot of abuse, gore etc then you will enjoy this film. Personally it's not something that I find entertaining so it really wasn't for me.

Red Sparrow started well with an intriguing plot but unfortunately it was ultimately let down by the lack of action and drama. It was a film that I was really looking forward to seeing and even reviewing, but I was actually left utterly disappointed and not really that bothered about potentially watching it again.

*All images are courtesy of Google Images