Review of Red Sparrow (2018) by Frame R — 28 Mar 2018

Finally, that solo Black Widow movie everyone's been desiring!

RED SPARROW.

One of the synonyms of "convoluted" is complex. Well, just know that when I use that word I don't mean complex. Tarkovsky is complex, convoluted is overly complicated. And I will continue to hammer down this notion that convoluted plots are deeply unnecessary, specially when we've seen the story bits so many times before. It's a spy flick, the only twist that would surprise me would be having no twists. It's all so terribly dull to watch as this movie tries something so very hard to get! Instead, it uses gore for the sake of gore and all the shock value is used to overcompensate for a lack of an emotional punch that should come from the camera and the script. It tries to cram it some themes early on that are just forgotten later on and that could have been way more interesting. It also doesn't help that the actors are passing the time pretending to be spies and having a fake Russian accent that is on and off to say the least. A movie whose potential was injected by the likes of Lawrence may get some butts in the movie theatre but it will not get the audience's attention unless the tone is thorough and the movie takes its sweet time to tell a story. Tinker Tailor, Bridge of Spies, Notorious... take your pick! Just don't go for Francis Lawrence's incoherent anaesthesia induced film. Mr. Lawrence, I say this as a friend and not a reviewer: go back to directing the Hunger Games.