January 3, 2018 2 min to read

Red Sparrow

Well-written characters, and an interesting premise make it an entertaining watch despite some cheesiness.

by Zach Saul

Red Sparrow is a movie meant to raise the hair on the back of your neck - and is unapologetic about its perspective. The movie depicts a real-life (allegedly) version of “whore-school” and the extreme disregard nationalist thinking has for people’s wellbeing. Red Sparrow is by no means my favorite performance by Jenifer Lawrence, but she plays the part well despite the litany of accent-jokes. Many years removed from her role as Katniss Everdeen I think Lawrence is at her best when she plays characters full righteous indignation - and Dominika gives her a full plate of material. At times, the nudity, and rape scenes (there are more than one) do feel over the top - but I can’t accuse Red Sparrow of inserting them aimlessly. This film wanted to grapple with among other subjects; the double standard that exists for women, and the moral boundaries governments will cross for their countries. Despite being depicted in a gut-curling way, Dominika’s abuse was important in her developing disillusionment with Russia and growing feelings of hopelessness.

Where the movie falls a bit short is in its failure to invite us into Dominika’s inner-monologue. If indeed there was a master plan all along; what motivated this decision during the early stages (before she witnessed the brutality of a life in espionage)? Red Sparrow is also a victim of its own ambition; attempting to tackle feminist, political, and brutality issues in a way that sometimes lands but too often feels cluttered. Had the film taken a more clear stylistic direction I think it would have felt more authentic. For example - there are three scenes in Red Sparrow (I’m not going to describe it but the final act of the movie contains a skin-graft scene that kept me awake for several nights) that really belong in a far creepier, borderline-horror iteration of this script. A more perspective driven iteration also would have benefitted Red-Sparrow as Dominika was a highly compelling lead. Matthias Schoenaerts and Charlotte Rampling as Vanya and Matron have opportunities to make great villains - but aren’t given the screen-time to draw the audience in.

The Good: Red Sparrow has some very exciting action scenes and extraordinarily creepy (by design) torture scenes that to their credit - feel “fresh” and intentional. Jenifer Lawrence gave a compelling performance as Dominika, and she’s definitely someone we have no difficulty rooting for.

The Bad: This movie is in desperate need of a great villain. Had Vanya Egorov or Matron been more dynamically written into the script perhaps they could have provided that presence - but we don’t engage with their characters enough. In addition, despite good intentions - the graphic violence, rape, and gore don’t so much feel gratuitous as out of place with a somewhat formulaic action movie.