_{Rating: 15
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Run time: 2 hours 20 mins}

Red Sparrow is a spy thriller directed by Francis Lawrence, director of the last three Hunger Games instalments and is based on the novel trilogy, The Kremlin’s Candidate. The film reunites Lawrence with another Lawrence in the form of Hunger Games lead actress Jennifer Lawrence. Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) is a Russian ballerina with a promising future ahead of her. Dancing for the rich and the powerful Dominika performs with such elegance and grace, a shining light within the darkness of the Russian society around her. However this doesn’t last long as Dominika is seriously injured during a performance bringing her career to an abrupt end.

Loosing her status as a ballerina and the privileges that came with it Dominika is unable to care for her sick mother who without proper care will be left to die in a state run care home. With no other options she turns to her uncle a high-ranking official in Russian Intelligence who offers to help her in exchange for her co-operation. Dominika is tasked with seducing a politician, where she is sexually assaulted and becomes a witness to his assassination. Because of this she is sent to a secret spy school to become a “Sparrow” where agents are trained in the art of sex and seduction.

During her training Dominika must forget everything she knew about herself this includes giving up her own body for the good of the state. As she battles her pride and her superiors Dominika's see's potential in his niece who's only real motivation is insuring the safety of her mother. The result is a dark and shockingly brutal espionage thriller that takes Dominika across Europe in as she attempts to escape the clutches of her Russian masters and dodge the waiting CIA, all set to the back ground of a modern day era cold war.

If Marvel where to make the Black Widow film we have all been waiting too see, Red Sparrow would be it! Replace Jennifer Lawrence with Scarlett Johansson and movie right's itself, lets just hope this will entice Marvel enough to make it happen. Having said that Red Sparrow on paper isn't a project you think would appeal to Jennifer Lawrence, however Lawrence only adds to her acting reputation with a stand out performance that see’s Dominika have to face humiliation, assaults and torture.

Because of these factors Red Sparrow is not only an incredibly raw film but emotional, preferring not to rely on action scenes and instead focus on the story and its key moral implications where someone is given a choice (or so they thought) and how they must deal with the consequences. The movie does drag at a lengthy 2 hours and 20 minutes and does seem to exhibit several cliché spy thriller traits but which have been excellently adapted, creating something that is fresh, unsexy and in some instances extremely harsh to watch.

Final Thoughts

We have kept our eye on Red Sparrow for sometime waiting to see what it had to offer. Seduction and Russian Spies may have you thinking that this female version of James Bond but nothing could be further from the truth. In some instance it is deceivingly misconcepting in context as like us you wouldn't expect this movie to go to the places it did. This fact in its self will make Red Sparrow underrated and a film that will be decided by the individual rather than the masses therefore we suggest you go see and what you think yourselves.. For us personally we will be buying the books and the Blu Ray on release as we patiently waiting for the sequels.

7/10