Review: Red Sparrow

“A dense slow burning plot, filled with enough intrigue that leads to a strong ending, however, some viewers will struggle with the pace.”

Red Sparrow is a slow burn. The opening act was unexpected after the trailers, which never hinted at Dominika’s dance career. This start sets up the tone of the film very quickly. We see violence, we see tragedy, we see Dominika surprise us with her ability to fight back… literally. The opening is a more of an extended prologue and it’s a much more complex narrative to begin with than what the trailer had suggested.

We then hit the second section of the film. This is where Dominika becomes a sparrow and the film doesn’t pull any punches. The film manages to capture the feeling of cold war Russia so that you could imagine this place being a leftover of that era, especially in the Putin era of returning to the old ways. Charlotte Rampling’s Matron is a very well-crafted character, a strong old school Russian communist soldier, but still having enough humanity that she doesn’t come off as two dimensional like so many Nazi characters do in movies.

When the film shifts away from this plot though, the film slows down and loses a lot of energy. It’s a bit tough at times to see what the film is doing, but that’s kinda the point. We meet the American CIA agent Nash, played well by Joel Edgerton, as a highly skilled operative but in a real life kind of way, not like a James Bond superhero. The attraction between the two is strong enough, but in some ways the film needed to play this hand a little closer to its chest.

Once the film passes the 100 minute mark, you do feel a little bit tired and need the film to pick up the pace a bit, which it eventually does, but not after some moments where you may glance sneakily at your watch. However, the film does hit top gear towards the end and then, thankfully, it satisfyingly ties everything together for a strong finish. At 140 minutes, it needed to stick the landing, and it did. Thankfully all the twists make sense and adds up to a logical outcome.

The cast is very strong. Whilst people might be a little over Jennifer Lawrence, she is as strong as ever in this film and does quite a few risky things. She holds your attention and gives Dominika enough vulnerability whilst showing her willingness to be ruthless in defending herself.

Joel Edgerton is fairly low key and it suits the plot well. He keeps his emotions in check, as you’d expect for a character who is trained in espionage, and gives the workman like part of the job a believability.

Matthias Schoenaerts is very good as the villain of the piece, being a complete sleaze bag of an uncle throughout.

There is also a number of good cameos, such as Jeremy Irons (who could have been used more) and Mary Louise-Parker.

Finally, the film is very graphic, especially in the violence. Sexually its very frank but not too explicit, but the violence, whilst only in a few key scenes, it is very in your face and skin peeling-ly so… Not for the faint hearted!

If you like your Cold War thrillers or slow burning spy movies such as Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, then you will like this. But if you saw the trailer and expected a swift action film with a female James Bond, you will be in for a hard slog.

The five bearded questions:

Was it worth a cinema trip: Yes.

Would I See It Again at the Cinema: If someone was desperate to see it, but otherwise no.

Would I buy it on Blu-ray: No.

Do I Recommend people see it: Yes.

Any cheese/ Disney style bullshit?: No. Very lactose free.