By Robert Yaniz Jr.

Crooked Sightings highlights the work of Robert Yaniz Jr. that has been published outside the realm of CrookedTable.com.

From the very first moment that the trailer for Red Sparrow was released, moviegoers — and, to be honest, entertainment sites as well — decried the apparent similarities between the Jennifer Lawrence thriller and the long-demanded but still not delivered solo outing for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though I can’t imagine Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige going the hard-R route that Red Sparrow takes, the connections between Lawrence’s spy and the former S.H.I.E.L.D. operative do bear a mention.

But the real question regarding Red Sparrow isn’t whether it feels like a false idol designed to tap into the geek community’s eagerness for a Black Widow adventure — a wish nearer to reality than ever before — but if director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) crafts a worthy addition to the long, long history of espionage on film. In a move likely designed to build early buzz for Red Sparrow, Fox held advance screenings weeks ahead of the film’s March 2 release. On behalf of Monkeys Fighting Robots, I shared my thoughts on the film this week, breaking down whether its worth your hard-earned dollars next month.

Head on over to Monkeys Fighting Robots for my full written review of Red Sparrow and decide for yourself if you want to see the film.

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