Awesome Movie

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Fake Russian accent, stoned looking faces focused on whatever, awkward dialogues and scenes. A couple fights (finally something is fast paced), too much rustic violence that doesn't contribute to the development either movie or characters. Everything is grey and gloomy and...slow. Felt as if I'm watching some bad weird mixture of The Americans and Atomic Blond (love both btw!!!). We got that Mother Russia is the saddest place on the Earth,and Russians are mean people. I didn't feel intrigued or submerged into the spy world. Lots of scenes could have been cut out without any loss whatsoever. Both, my friend and I, barely managed to sit through the movie.

Didn't understand it. Just watched a load of filth rape and violence.

The local Russian pigs are scouring in the night perhaps looking for homosexuals or perhaps looking for some action of their own when they stumble upon an international case of espionage. Thus begins a two-hour long intersection of Russian brutality, sexual manipulation and international scares. The film's main character Jennifer Lawrence is a knock out and outgrows her reputation as a teenage actress. Joel Edgerton is also a break out. He perfectly portrays both a hero and a victim. Watch it.

A majority of the filmmaking formalities behind Red Sparrow can be best described as solid effort. This features solid directing, solid performances, solid dialogue, solid tension building, solid atmosphere construction, and just an overall solidly crafted enigma. There isn't anything super special about it's technical approach, but it concisely works well. The story isn't explained obviously, and actually asks the viewers to pay attention to current events in order to follow along with the story, which I profoundly appreciated considering I respect films that don't treat their audiences as if they are idiots. Now, concerning the controversy behind the film, my personal opinion about issues like this is that despite how tough specific material may be expressed, especially in cinematic or novella format, an artist sometimes needs to use ominous visuals or subject matters in order to make their messages more apperent and belivable, so in many cases it's hard for me to get offended when an artist is just trying to make their film more effective (its sort of like how I perceived some of the hard to bear and truly nauseating sequences explored in David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Even though, I would've preferred not seeing some of these particular scenes in Red Sparrow, at the end of the day, I learn and train myself to just accept that the overarching product is only just a movie, and that I shouldn't take it too seriously considering the fictional finatics behind it. Plus, it's not like the film is trying to glorify rape and torture, it's more so trying to show the terrors and disorder behind its existence in human society. If you are sensitive to the material however, I highly, highly recommend passing on this film. Now, my real issue with the film is more so the fact that I couldn't find enough substance to maintain a completely entitling and bearable attentiveness to the film's story. There isn't enough meat on the bones in this movie. It's just a decent story that drags and drags, and by the end of it, you're just kind of numb to what's occured. Okay, maybe you've been disturbed but by the end of it, the experience doesn't feel memorable. It's got a neat twist at the end of it, but by the time it happens, my mind kind of just shrugs it off a couple minutes after my viewing concludes. In no way is Red Sparrow as awful as people like to make it out to be, it's actually, I'd say, more fresh than rotten. In conclusion, it isn't anything I'd ever see again, however, I respect Francis Lawrence for making an unconventional spy thriller that you don't often see being made during these modern times. (Verdict: C+)