RED SPARROW
I will be very vague and spoiler free in this review
Due to unforseen occurrences Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) finds herself cornered into being trained to become a Red Sparrow which is basically a Seductive Spy.
She is soon in the sights of CIA operative Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) and the adventu...well a lot of nasty twists and turns begin.
I was definitely pulled in by the story ,i liked that this wasnt the basic spy thriller.There were shades of other spy/assassin thrillers like Point Of No Return,but this film makes that look like a sunny day on the beach
There are scenes of extreme brutality,mixed with sexual assault.
Jennifer Lawrence fully immerses herself in the role,turning in a magnetic and alluring performance.I admire her courage to take on certain scenes.
Her Russian accent only goes off the rails in one scene.
The other actors also turn in good performances Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, Ciaran Hinds, Joely Richardson, Bill Camp, and Jeremy Irons.
It's beautifully shot,i actually winced at one specific scene of torture.
The problems i had with it, Edgerton and Lawrence had no chemistry together.
The film starts to meander as it nears it's climax.Who's playing who? Who's switching sides? who's going to be loyal? As these questions swirled around i found myself saying ...Are we there yet?
I know some people will absolutely hate this film because they may find it to exploitive and country bashing.
I enjoyed the new take on the life of a spy,and i was entertained i just wish this sparrow could have left the nest a bit faster without sitting around in something convoluted.
Scale of 1-10 a 7½
Death Wish
Im actually upset AMC didnt run a marathon of the Death Wish flicks from 70's,80's and 90's
starring the late great Charles Bronson,and in honor of the reboot.
This time around Paul Kersey(Bruce Willis) is a doctor and has a happy family life with his wife and daughter , Lucy (Elisabeth Shue), and Jordan (Camila Morrone)
But evil is just around the corner his life is shattered and it's revenge time
At first Willis acts completely vacant,i said wow is he going to be this dead the whole movie? Fortunately Director Eli Roth is able to shape some reflective grief scenes around Willis and his performance picks up.
There are some good kills and funny moments,as Willis trains himself with Youtube videos on how to handle a gun and takes on drug dealers and other sinister characters.Roth gets to display his love for Ragu sauce gore.
The side characters dont really add up to much. Vincent DOnofrio is ok as Paul's hey im here for you brother.
The detective's portrayed by Dean Norris and Kimberly Elise dont do much but try to size up some suspects and make a few jokes.
Some characters make some beyond dumb moves.
The whole media thing with some familiar radio personalities questioning if the vigilante should be cheered instead of jeered was ok at first but then became kind of grating.
I was entertained but i just wanted more action,and the film was just to drawn out in the beginning.
What i found interesting was the audible gasps from some of the audience members as the film's first 30 minutes plays,i guess a lot of people never watched the original Death Wish.
Scale of 1-10 a 7