RED SPARROW REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

When most people think of spy films, they think of James Bond, who has dominated our screens since he made his debut appearance in Dr. No in 1963. Or, with its sixth installment due later this year, the Mission: Impossible films, starring Tom Cruise. While these are all good films in their own way, the spy-based films have been dominated by males, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's great seeing these type of films with a female lead. Angelina Jolie gave an impressive performance as Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who is accused of being a spy, in the 2010 action film, Salt. And just last year, Charlize Theron portrayed undercover MI6 agent, Lorraine Broughton, in Atomic Blonde. While the films themselves weren't amazing, what I enjoyed most about the films were the performances from the leading females. They were strong, fierce and proved to be just as capable as a male actor at handling the physical and action-packed aspects of the film. While Red Sparrow is a spy-based thriller, don't go in expecting an Atomic Blonde copycat or a Black Widow rip-off, the tone of the film is darker and more serious. It's more similar to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy than any other spy-based film that's been released before.

Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is many things. A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother (Joely Richardson) at all costs. A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit. A master of seductive and manipulative combat. When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons. After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust.

The best aspect of Red Sparrow is Lawrence's performance as Dominika. She continues to impress since making her breakthrough performance in Winter's Bone in 2010. She has come a long way in eight years, including winning an Academy Award in 2013 for her role as Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook along with three other nominations and becoming well-known to younger audiences as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise. Last year, she shocked audiences and critics alike when she appeared in Darren Aronofsky's feature, mother!, late last year. It was an entirely different role for her as it involved her being physically abused towards the end of the film. It was a performance that was more worthy of another Oscar nomination but she unfairly received a Golden Raspberry nomination instead. To those who were shocked at the brutality Lawrence received in mother!, prepare to be shocked again. Over the course of 140 minute runtime, Dominika is physically and sexually abused and there are scenes that involve physical torture. Those of you uncomfortable with films that involve heavy violence and graphic nudity are better off avoiding Red Sparrow. In 2014, Lawrence had her privacy violated when nude photos, that she had sent to then boyfriend, Nicholas Hoult, were published online for everyone to see. That incident effected Lawrence. However, with Red Sparrow, she was able to overcome the trauma. Her role as Dominika involved going full nude, which Lawrence was nervous about, however, when it came to film those scenes, she said that everyone on set treated her the same and like she was wearing clothes. The entirety of Red Sparrow is worth watching just for Lawrence's performance. Solid supporting roles come from Edgerton, Charlotte Rampling (as the stern Matron of the Sparrow school that Dominika attends), and Matthias Schoenarts (as Dominika's uncle Ivan). 

If I'm being honest, I think that critics have been unfair with Red Sparrow, with most of them stating that it's a dull, boring feature and that it's too violent. The reason why I think that it's unfair is because critics have praised similar films, including The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which featured a lot of heavy violence, graphic nudity and scenes that showed sexual abuse. In my opinion, Red Sparrow is, like last year's mother!, is going to divide audiences. It's not a film that you can enjoy and it's far from entertaining, however, it features a thought provoking narrative with twists and turns you never see coming. Those who have read the original 2013 novel by Jason Matthews won't be disappointed as I think that Justin Haythe's screenplay follows it faithfully. With Matthews being a former CIA operative, his book provided insight into the way espionage is conducted. 

Apart from Lawrence's captivating performance and the thought-provoking narrative, another aspect I liked about the film was its cinematography and visuals. On her missions, Dominika travels to Budapest, Vienna and London and what makes these scenes more impressive was the fact that they were filmed on location. What annoys me with films is when they record in studios and recreate the location using computer generated imagery or greenscreen so it's refreshing to see that the director, Francis Lawrence, chose to shoot in these beautiful places. And, speaking of Francis Lawrence, I think that he was a great choice to direct. He previously worked with Jennifer Lawrence on the final three installments in The Hunger Games franchise so the two clearly know each other well enough to work together again. And, in interviews for promotion for Red Sparrow, it's clear how much Francis is passionate about this film. In one interview, Francis said, "There's people who think it's very similar to the Black Widow story. This is not pulled from Black Widow, this is pulled from Red Sparrow, you know, it's written by a guy who was in the CIA. It's like, his references are coming from a very, very different place from that. But there'll always be that. People like to put things in boxes, and I think it's a really unique film. This is a thriller, it's not action, again it's not gadgetry. It's a hard-R. There's violence, it's a bit perverse, it's suspenseful, a lot of intrigue. It's a different kind of spy film". I agree wholeheartedly with what Francis is saying. People should be watching Red Sparrow because there are no action sequences or cool gadgets. It's different to any other spy-based film and that's what really impressed me the most. I like filmmakers who aren't afraid to go all out with their films and that's exactly what Francis does here. 

Overall, Red Sparrow follows a different path to most spy-based films which makes it original. Jennifer Lawrence gives another impressive performance and proves she can handle any role.

8/10