Red Sparrow

Let’s start this review boldly and say that Red Sparrow is exponentially better than the widely-middling critical consensus.

Far more of a 'European Bond' than the much-touted Black-Widow-in-all-but-name Francis Lawrence’s latest is another victim of poor marketing.

The combination of Francis and namesake Jennifer Lawrence (no relation) has, thus far, led to huge success in the YA waters of The Hunger Games and the widespread press for this film has posited it as the beginning of another lucrative franchise.

Whilst this certainly could, and should, lead to inevitable sequels our first dip into this world is far more stark, brutal and violent than you might be expecting.

Lawrence’s Dominika (her Russian inflection is on point) is a ballerina who suffers a gruesome, career-ending injury within the film’s opening. With her accommodation and care for her sick mother dependant on her dancing she is forced by her Uncle in the Russian Secret Service (Matthias Schoenaerts’ CGI-ed complexion is a little too Putin-esque but he’s suitably menacing in the role) to enlist as a sparrow; a wing of the secret service who use seduction to extract secrets.

It sounds, and feels, at this point like Red Sparrow will nosedive into old fashioned, spy movie Bond-misogyny but Dominika subverts the teachings of Charlotte Rampling’s terrifying Headmistress to leave the viewer in no doubt that she’s always in control.

It’s a reversal of spy lineage which delivers its results better than last year’s style-over-substance Atomic Blonde. It pulls no punches with some wince-inducing scenes of torture and violence.

Plot-wise, it’s firmly in ‘realistic’ double-cross/double-agent territory; no huge set pieces here just taut and suspenseful exchanges. The action beats quicken the pulse but are over quickly. Its sexual content is also explicit and unexpected, it treads on the line of controversy and taste in part and leans on its setting to hastily explain away its morals but some will find it distasteful.

On the whole though an exciting first entry into what hopefully leads to more. Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic and Francis Lawrence’s direction is subtle and brings beauty to its grey-setting. The middle section has a couple of slower moments which don’t resolve or explain themselves until the very end but not holding the viewer’s hand is preferable in a darker, more adult film like this is.

4 stars ****