Red Sparrow is a mixed bag of a movie that excels on Jennifer Lawrence’s brave performance and some beautiful photography from both director Francis Lawrence and the cinematographer, but the film is bogged down by thinly written characters and a sometimes half-baked story and script.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 had a lot of potential especially comig after the well received, and all around well made, Catching Fire. What we got instead is what felt like the middle installment of a trilogy that had a thin story and characters who really didn’t develop that much (though at least Lawrence’s Katniss does make a bit of progress) and is merely there to bridge one movie to another. This is a case where splitting two movies was a mistake and I think it would’ve made for a solid final entry.