I knew that Jennifer Lawrence was going to bring her A-game in her latest spy-flick “Red Sparrow.” Following the story of Dominika Egorova, who is forced to work for the Russian government as a covert spy known as a sparrow after being tricked by her uncle and witnessing a murder she shouldn’t have, the previews just screamed “this is going to be a good movie.” What I wasn’t ready for was just how it would be a great movie. “Red Sparrow,” though a worthy watch, certainly had its fair share of surprises.
All the violence — and rape
Don’t get me wrong, I knew people were going to die. It’s a spy movie after all. However, silly old me thought it would be in explosions, gunshots or some spy-like martial arts moves. Apparently, the Russians aren’t about that. The movie has a lot of slaughters, torture and more than one rape scene. Seeing a rated R spy film sort of guarantees you’ll see some violence, but if you’re a super baby like me, this brand of violence might be a little hard to stomach. On the brightside, this is the worst part of the film, so if you can handle that, you’re good to go.
JLaw barely kills anyone
That’s right. For all the violence and straight up gore that this movie brings to the table, almost none of it is committed by Dominika herself. She only physically hurts people in a fit of passion at the beginning of the movie or when she has no other choice. Otherwise, Dominika survives through manipulation and intellect alone, which is really impressive.
The multiple important female characters
There was certainly potential to make “Red Sparrow” a love story between Dominika and Nate Nash (Joel Edgertron), the American CIA agent in the film, and thus making Lawrence the only notable female character. Thankfully that’s not the case. While Dominika and Nate do develop some level of a relationship, it isn’t at all overwhelming or even close to the central plot of the movie. Moreover, there are several female characters, good and bad, that advance the plot of the film including a chief of staff to a senator, trainer in military school and fellow sparrow.
The unpredictable nature
It wouldn’t be a spy movie if there weren’t some questions about loyalty, right? What’s impressive about “Red Sparrow” is that it’s not really clear where Dominika’s loyalty lies — or if she has any at all. The writers and Lawrence do a great job of keeping you guessing and many of the reveals in the film aren’t obvious.
Overall, “Red Sparrow” met expectations in a surprising way. If you’re into spy-flicks, this is definitely worth the watch.
