A Prima ballerina joins a secret intelligence service after she sustained an injury that puts her career on hold, turning her into a dangerous intelligence weapon.
Lurid but not quite trashy thriller from director Francis Lawrence, who puts his Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence through trials that never made it into their previous, PG-13 collaboration.
Dominika's tendency to carry on and keep seducing even when surrounded by absurdity and implausibility becomes an unwitting metaphor for Red Sparrow's failed ambitions. The cast groans with heavyweights who labour on.
Red Sparrow is like 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' but only if it were directed by Showgirls-era Paul Verhoeven. That's something of a compliment, but it's also a warning.
The robust plot ... keeps one riveted through the twists and turns, even as it challenges viewers' sensibilities with disturbing scenes of sexual assault and brutality.
That level of sophistication, and the need to really pay attention, make Red Sparrow feel far more like a grown-up September release than one hitting theaters in early March.
It's the centerpiece of high-gloss, highly sexualized espionage claptrap with an overlay of faux female empowerment: Dominika is pretty much an equal-opportunity scourge.
