Tag Archives: spy thriller

Red Sparrow (2018)

Red Sparrow Review

written by Anu Gopinath

Red Sparrow: ‘The Cold War did not end, it merely shattered into a thousand pieces.’

My Ratings: 2/5

Red sparrow, the latest offering from Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton tells the story of the post cold war era espionage but can only be deemed as a feeble attempt at the spy thriller genre and is
not fit to hold a candle to the classics like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Red Sparrow tries too hard to be a part of that genre but the problem is… it falls flat on its face!

The film depicts the story of a Russian prima ballerina Dominica Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) who gets entangled in the spy games of the state and is forced to become a ‘red sparrow’ and eventually tells the story of her revenge and redemption.

In paper, the movie looked to have everything going for it and director Francis Lawrence tries too hard to delve into the life of the protagonist but given the limited running time of the movie, he could neither give a proper character definition for Jennifer Lawrence nor could he establish an emotional connect for the character with the audience. In his desperate attempts to successfully make the
transformation to the movie from a novel written by Jason Matthews, the director forgot the perennial rule of filmmaking. Red-SparrowIronically it’s the same golden rule that a spy lives by and that a filmmaker should never forget … “Nothing ever goes according to the plan!”.

Jennifer Lawrence shoulders the movie with her innate talent of getting into the skin of any character she plays. However same cannot be said about the multitude of talents that goes wasted namely, Charlotte Rampling and Mary-Louise Parker.

Joel Edgerton huffs and puffs through a role which hardly requires him to do anything more than a mere supporting role and it’s a shame to see such a brilliant talent with a horde of potential being thrown in to dumps of a pretty average cinema!

Jeremy Irons commands the screen presence in any and every scene he is in but is completely undone by the lack of screen time and lousy writing.

Red-SparrowIt’s the brilliance of the technical team that keeps the movie intriguing, interesting and afloat. The cinematography by Jo Willems is one of the best works I have seen in recent times. Added to that, a stunning background score by James Newton Howard successfully recreates the blanket of eerie, gloomy and mysterious atmosphere that is remnant of the cold war era Soviet Russia and the Russian federation that came into being since its fall.

Despite its 143min long running time, the movie fails to capture the attention of audience and one fails to empathise or sympathise with the lead characters . The emotional discord between the audience and movie is quite evident!

For once now, when I kick back with a glass of vodka, I can only Red-Sparrowsquirm and sigh hard at the state of spy thrillers and the movies that has come to pass as the spy thrillers and can only get nostalgic about movies like North by Northwest  or Manchurian candidate which redefined this genre and cinema.

All the flicker of hope that was rekindled with the release of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy about the resurgence of this genre has been doused !

One can only raise his glass of drink in despair and give good wishes the condition of the spy-genre that has been laid to waste. “NAZDAROVYE!”

Similar Interest: Best Conspiracy Thrillers ever made

Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Bridge of Spies review.

written by Souranath Banerjee

My Ratings: 3.8/5.

It’s definitely a good Spielberg film but certainly not one of his best.

2015 must have been a difficult year for all the espionage agencies because no matter how hard the spies try to hide, their covers are repeatedly been blown in the numerous spy-films made on them.

From the Kingsmen to 007, Tom Cruise to U.N.C.L.E – this year Hollywood has been obsessed with Spy movies. And now Steven Spielberg decides to join the party.

After a gap of 10 years actor Tom Hanks and director Steven bridge-of-spies-poster2Spielberg join hands, this being their fourth collaboration (previous ones being Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal); and this time they come up with a historical spy-thriller (based on true events) called Bridge of Spies.

The film is set in 1960, when the Cold War was at it’s peak.

Bridge of Spies is actually a biopic on American insurance-attorney James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) who agreed to risk his reputation and his safety (as well as his family’s), in order to serve his country in the most righteous manner possible.

Firstly, he had to defend a captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) in the American court of justice and then, he was recruited by the CIA and sent to the-then hostile Germany (Berlin being partitioned) to negotiate a spy-exchange mission between the two rival countries – America and Russia.

Rudolf Abel being the Russian spy who was exchanged with Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), the American pilot whose aircraft was shot down over the Soviet borders (the U-2 incident).

Now, Bridge of Spies not only successfully depicts the moral obligation of Donovan’s character and his constant quest for justice
bridge-of-spies-poster1but the film also manages to create the tension of that particular era,
the desperate attempt of the two super powers trying to topple each other by any means possible.

But then, don’t expect too much dramatization of events.

Bridge of Spies faithfully clings to the pages of history, not much of a suspense element created anywhere in the movie, pretty much gives away the basic story line from the start and also it’s more of a dialogue based spy film.

Written by Matt Charman and the famous Coen brothers ( Ethan Coen and Joel Coen), and with Spielberg’s direction and some brilliant performances, the film surely deserves attention.

If you like authentic historical espionage cinema more than the thrilling fast-paced fictional spy films – this one is tailor made for you.

Poster courtesy: www.impawards.com