Genre: Drama; Mystery; Action & Adventure
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Written by: Justin Haythe
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling and Mary-Louise Parker
In Theaters: March 2, 2018 (wide)
Labelled as the "Black Widow solo movie MCU hasn't done yet", Red Sparrow tells the story of a Russian spy, yes, but she's no Black Widow. The movie begins with some sequences that remind us of Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan but what promises to be a tense ballet/thriller drama turns into a bland female driven action movie.
I don't want to give any spoilers but the only truly surprising sequence in the whole movie are the final sequences - it worked like a "Wake up!" call and it was what really made me not hate latest Francis Lawrence's work.
The movie's basis is Jennifer Lawrence's almost magnetic sexuality and the leading actress knows how to use it. In fact, Lawrence is fine here (like in most of her works if you exclude mother!), specially in the first 1/3 of the movie where she explores the transition of her character from regular girl to girl who saw too much - during the rest of the movie, her performance starts to feel flat just like if the real Lawrence "doesn't really care anymore". But I don't see this as Lawrence's entire fault, but the director's: Francis Lawrence, who worked with his leading lady before in The Hunger Games franchise, just asks too much of her body and less of her acting chops - something that shouldn't happen since their previous work would allow the director to know the actress better. While Lawrence, the actress, is underused, Lawrence, the body, is overused - or maybe it simply reflects the way the character is asked to work... It wasn't clear to me...!
Edgerton, Irons and Schoenaerts are fine in their key supporting parts, while Rampling turns to present us with a character that's easy to hate and Mary-Louise Parker almost steals the show from the movie's big star in some scenes (her scenes are brief, but she manages to shine bright in them). Plot reveals some inconsistencies about character details since, for example, Edgerton goes from regular next-door man to "handsome American" a couple of times.
But I have to praise the editing work that brings some energy to the movie by creating an effective cinematic pace. Well done!
In the end, you realise it's the movie's ending and Jennifer Lawrence's presence you take home with you. If you ask me "Should I buy a ticket to see Red Sparrow?", I would say "No!". But for all the matters Red Sparrow will be remembered for Jennifer's use of sexuality in a not-so-far future, since I'm sure she'll manage to keep her "super movie star" status.
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RATING: 2 / 5
RATING: 2 / 5
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