After taking our Advanced Placement English Literature final on March 24 and attending the March For Our Lives rally in Redwood City, we decided to go watch a movie. We scanned the listings at Cinemark Redwood Downtown 20 and XD and decided to give “Red Sparrow” a try as that was the earliest film available. Little did we know that this would be a huge mistake.
“Red Sparrow” was released on March 20, so, yes, we know this review is a little late. We just felt an obligation to all movie-goers to express how awful this movie was and give a fair warning. Spoiler-alerts below (if that even matters).
From the start, Jennifer Lawrence slipped in and out of her shoddy American accent as her character Dominika Egorova, a prima ballerina, spontaneously transforms into a Russian double-agent in a matter of minutes.
It seemed that the film was attempting to be more sophisticated than it actually is, and it tackled the topic of women using their sexuality as a weapon with a lazy and clumsy effort. Though it attempted to show this as empowering, it came off as a necessary but exerting and humiliating experience for Egorova.
On this note, the whole plot seemed to fall apart when we realized that all of the harrowing tribulations that Egorova went through were to take care of her ill mother, whose illness is never physically noticeable or explained. This subplot is never properly expanded, leaving the audience to wonder, ‘What was the point of the rest of the movie?’ Despite the loving and tender relationship the mother and daughter seem to share, Egorova’s mother somehow shows no sense of responsibility and barely bats an eye as her daughter endures such pain and permanent trauma for her.
The multiple torture scenes did not add much, if anything, to the storyline and were grotesque to watch.
Most importantly, there is no character development in Egorova, no vulnerability, and no expression of her suddenly falling in love with the American agent, Nathaniel Nash (Joel Edgerton), whose performance was just as forgettable. Lawrence’s role was very one-note, leaving the audience longing for more.
About halfway through, Erica and I looked at each other and we both wondered, ‘Why are we putting ourselves through this?’ exasperated by the flat plot and unnecessary length of the film, two hours and 21 minutes.
Throughout the movie, there was minimal suspense despite its long run time. We felt so bored with the movie that by the time the “plot twist” came at the end of the movie, we were not even slightly satisfied, as it was not even that redeeming.
If you are looking to bore yourself for over two hours with a relentlessly mind-numbing plot and bad performance by Lawrence, I guess this is the movie for you.
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