Review of Red Sparrow (2018) by Kevin P — 25 Jun 2018

Strengths: Jennifer Lawrence (Dominika Egorova) has a reputation as one of the best actresses in Hollywood. Though she's made some strange film choices in recent years (I'm looking at you, Passengers), her performances remain strong. She's great in this movie, giving a powerful performance that is the best in the entire movie. Joel Edgerton Nate Nash) was also good as the CIA operative, while Jeremy Irons (Vladimir Korchnoi) was another standout. There are a fair amount of tense scenes, with the violence level throughout the film being up to the par you'd want from something like this.

Weaknesses: There are a fair amount of issues with this movie. There's somewhat of a plot twist that comes late in the film. Somehow, we don't get many hints at it, yet it also manages to be too predictable to really hit. The film also feels out of place. It takes place in current times, but seems like it belongs at some point during the Cold War. There are inconsistencies with Lawrence's character, where she shifts from one thing to another for no real reason. A lot of the editing is sloppy, with most of the directorial decisions missing the mark. There's also a strong case to be made for the movie being cut down. Two and a half hours was way too long for the story they tried telling here.

Overall: Jennifer Lawrence tries her best, but picked a movie that was filled with holes. It goes too long, is poorly edited, and there are several plot issues. The acting is strong enough to make this worth a look, just don't do it more than once.