I’ve actually been struggling on what to say with this film, because with the mystery of it all it’s hard to explain the story without giving anything away. There’s also a lot going on in this film, which adds so much depth. But I think I’ve finally sussed an opinion on it to explain to you all. You may think the trailer says a lot, but it’s quite the opposite, it does say some things, obviously as it wouldn’t be a trailer, but it also kept many things a secret, which just embedded with the mystery of the film.
‘Red Sparrow’ is a film of Russian spies. The organisation declares tensions between Russia and America have come to an all time high. The Red Sparrow programme teaches young adults to use their bodies to extract information from anyone. In particular, to use sex to decipher what’s happening over in America. Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) finds herself in this programme when she has no other option, one mission, she’s told, one mission and she’ll be free, but once she’s in she discovers more than she’s supposed to, becoming even more entrapped in this hostile, emotionless scheme. Dominika’s mission is one to discover the mole in the government, she has one lead, an American CIA agent (Joel Edgerton).
There are some hard scenes to watch, the extremity of limits this programme goes to can be hard to process, although I think it is supposed to test your limits on the horrific things happening in Dominika’s life. There are some horrible scenes. Additionally, it is a very complex film, it’s not an easy watch and not something you can watch just in the background. You do have to pay attention and follow everything that’s happening. Furthermore, there are some awkward sex scenes, some of them felt a bit unnecessary and rigid, but happily there wasn’t many. The whole sex element of the film was very strongly driven and it didn’t seem that necessary, it just created a very negative view throughout the whole film. Ultimately, I do think the threat of rape was one too dominant, but I guess that was to add to the tension, but instead just tested the audience in something so horrific to happen repeatedly. While on this topic, this is a film for older ages if you hadn’t of guessed, some of the difficult moments to watch are sex-related or gory, there is also swearing and nakedness. I would say this should be an 18, rather than a 15 in my opinion.
The stand out of this film does has to be the acting of Jennifer Lawrence, she is amazing. I don’t understand the negative views on her in this film, because I think she played the haunted role extremely well. ‘Red Sparrow’ presents Jennifer Lawrence in such a completely different role from anything else I’ve seen her in, a Russian spy with a complex mind in a hideous position. We all know she can do a variety of films, from ‘The Hunger Games’ to ‘X-Men’ to ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, or ‘House at the End of the Street’ and ‘Passengers’; ‘Red Sparrow’ just adds to the colossal of films she’s in. Summing up, she is definitely an actress of more serious films, rather than comical or romance to say the least. Jennifer Lawrence’s character in ‘Red Sparrow’ is one of difficult judgement, what I mean by this is that she becomes a very untrustworthy main protagonist. I spent the whole film having no idea what was going on in her mind and what she was thinking, instead you follow her in the film, knowing she is a victim and trying to do everything to survive in her situation, but never knowing her next unpredictable move. She would say one thing to someone and something else to another, but who was she telling the truth to? I had some inklings of what she was thinking, but her irrational behaviour made me doubt everything. Dominika does become a character of constant torture and a body of sadistic violence, she couldn’t suffer more in this film, so don’t expect a Jennifer Lawrence like in other films, because this one is physically and psychologically damaged in so many dark ways. I really believe Jennifer Lawrence was brilliant in this film, she played the character amazingly. The acting of everyone else in the film was also brilliant, all the characters carry some darkness and bring more depth to the film. Flawed, real characters played extremely well, I could not fault the acting at all!
The Sparrow programme is extremely negative, one which extended to horrific limits to serve the country, one very demeaning and brutal. The thrilling tension in the film is very well done because the audience is unknown to so much. The film does become much more talky than action, and brutality in violence is dominant, but that’s the sort of film it is. It is also quite a long film, but it all builds up tension and discovery of the mission itself. This is definitely a film of certain preference. To say I enjoyed the film seems a bit overestimated as there were so many moments I was worried for the characters on screen. I thought it was a good thrilling mystery with discovery points I didn’t expect. Overall, it wasn’t a dreadful film, it wasn’t one awful in all it’s rights, it’s far from that, it’s challenging in areas, but I thought acted well and intriguing from the beginning as you just want to know what is going on. It builds up tension well and definitely becomes a film to try to come to grips with everything that is going on. Dominika becomes a character, even if unpredictable, strong in so many ways, tortured yet all that is wanted is for her to be safe and not in the situation she has fallen into. The ending also becomes one of discussion and brilliance. It is definitely a different thrilling film, good in its own ways.