Review of Red Sparrow (2018) by Omar L — 03 Jul 2018

The praise for Jennifer Lawrence is not misplaced; her commitment to any role is admirable. However, the demands of the role are shot in such a way as to purposefully invite remarks about her acting, rather than concentrating on the role itself. In other words, we see more of Jennifer Lawrence than we do of Dominika. A better example of an actor disappearing into a role is Joel Edgerton as Nash.

Unfortunately, "actors disappearing into roles" is not enough to make a good movie. They say that this movie could have been a Black Widow movie, and here we have reasons why a movie like that hasn't been made: there's just not enough story to make the character that compelling. The beats of "sexy spy thriller" are all hit to the point where there is no real surprise to any twist at all.