Jennifer Lawrence’s new spy thriller plot is wedge-shaped. The first half of the story is thin, undynamic, and unexciting, but once things get going and start to develop, Red Sparrow develops into a pretty enjoyable film.

Red Sparrow’s primary issue is also what is realistically its primary pull; in the beginning, Red Sparrow feels like a Fifty Shades of Grey spin-off with less stigma and more action. Throughout the first half of the film, it appears the screenwriters tried to patch the thin plot with abundant sex scenes which contribute little to the actual merit of the story other than reinforcing Jennifer Lawrence’s character’s backstory.

Despite being the primary perpetrator of said scenes, Jennifer Lawrence is Red Sparrow’s saving grace in her convincing performance as Dominika Egorova, which is a stark contrast from the bland and uncompelling portrayals of Charlotte Rampling as Matron and Matthias Schoenaerts as Vanya Egorov. One of the primary reasons Red Sparrow gets better as it progresses is that Jennifer Lawrence shares the screen less and less as the film goes on, allowing the viewer to be less distracted by the dialogue cliches and weaknesses of the first half of the movie.

Overall, Red Sparrow is entertaining, but not much else. It is definitely not the best film of the year nor a compelling and original enough premise to redeem itself. It is a fine way to spend an afternoon, but not a movie worth going out of the way to see.