Movie Review-Red Sparrow

Red Sparrow had a kind of conflicting yet interesting storyline, one that you needed to pay utmost attention to get a full hang of the story. Well I would say I changed the suspense, thrill and action all through the movie but kind of got confused, I really didn’t get nor understand the exact side “Dominika” was on, till the very end at some points I thought she had snitched on the Russians and gave out information to the Americans, at some point also I thought she had moved on to the American side, it was so difficult to tell whose side exactly she was on. The movie kept us thinking and wondering all through, a movie that days after you were just putting the puzzles together. I was totally blown away at how the movie ended, I sure didn’t see that coming, and she was definitely one step ahead of her uncle.

Francis Lawrence played a vital role in directing this Russian spy movie, he did have a detailed script of what the action packed, suspense movie would look like, he also did make a right choice is selecting his movie crew as “Dominika” was exquisite in her role as one of the top notch sparrow spies. The various locations chosen and movie editing was good and the scenes almost looked real, except for some scenes that didn’t show real enthusiasm and emotions. I enjoyed the action scenes and the appearance of the ninja bad guy to kill the target, was also on point.

The Russian spy movie was a story centered on a young pretty, brilliant and smart girl, who was a bale dancer; she danced to earn money to sustain the house bills and take care of her mum’s medical bill, till one day she had a bad fall while dancing and broke her leg, which ended her dancing career. She was heartbroken, but knew she had to work harder if she was going to sustain her mother’s health bills and care taker. She lost her father when she was very little and was at the mercy of his brothers who never asked after her and her mom, her uncle decided one day to help her with another job, which she found worrisome, as he never offers anything free. He wanted to use her for his own ulterior motives, hence getting her into the deadliest Russian spy group called the “Red Sparrow”. These groups of young guys and girls were trained to be spies and only the best made it out alive to go fight for their country Russia, they were taught seductive and manipulative combat. The Red sparrow group is a secret intelligence service that trains and equips extraordinary young males and female like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons to destroy the Russian enemies.

They were expected to endure and preserve the tough and rigorous training process where she emerged tops of the class in such a very short period. She was sent on a deadly mission to seek information off a young American CIA Agent, who tries to make her believe he deserves her trust. She plays him and everyone on the American side too She wanted a way out and knew that her uncle would not stop till he got all he wanted from her, she decided to plot against him and make him look like the snitch that betrayed his country Russia. She had the thoughts all well written and planned and was bent on destroying her uncle. She made the U.S government pay in $250,000 dollars into an account she had secretly opened in his name. We had no clued what she was up to, until the very end, making us more thrilled by the twist.

The highlight of the movie was when the entire movie was played and we saw exactly what she did, when and why. One then did we know she had framed her uncle, the final trade off and exchange of prisoners between the Russians and the Americans, was the best scene as we never expected the final twist.

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling, Joely Richardson, Sakina Jaffrey, Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons, Ciaran Hinds, Matthias Schoenaerts, Mary-Louise Parker & Sasha Frolova

Genre: Action, Adventure & Drama, Mystery & Suspense

Director: Francis Lawrence

Ratings: R (for Strong violence, torture, sexual content, language and some graphic nudity)

Written by: Justine Haythe

Runtime: 179 mins

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

To my verdict, I would say an 8/10, I did enjoy the movie and the suspense that came along, but, like myself most people got confused and really didn’t get the twist at the end, they try to put up a very good storyline and adventure, but didn’t quiet kill the final delivery of the movie for the viewers at the end. Well for all the suspense, drama and adventure movie lovers, who want the whole secret service, underground cover storyline, then this is the movie for you.

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Linda Ochugbua

@lindaochugbua