Let's start with the few positives.

I'm giving this a 3 because it clearly has a big budget and there is production quality here. There are beautiful vistas and costumes, and you can see some time and effort has been spent on the production, in particular the design. It is not a 'poor quality' film in a production sense. I think there is also the potential for a genuinely good film here.

Where it falls down is ...... everything else.

I was honestly dismayed by this film in almost every way. The script is really poor with very basic, boring dialogue and the terrible dialogue is further exacerbated by very poor direction and editing. The film is all over the place, it is very messy, the way scenes are cut just seems all wrong. It actually feels like a rough first draft rather a final cut. I think much more time needed to be spend in the editing suite to clean this film up. Because, as is, it results in a very poor experience for the viewer.

The acting performances are also very poor, it honestly doesn't feel like any of the actors wanted to act in this. They are all walking through their lines with no effort or any feeling. This results in no tension, no chemistry, and no interest from the viewers. I was extremely bored and disappointed throughout this film, to the point of falling asleep. Towards the end, I considered walking out and I understand why others have walked out. This film is just not compelling at all.

Then there is the very poorly handled gratuitous nudity, sexual violence, and violence in general. I am by no means a prude and I love action films and fight sequences - when they are done well. But the sex and violence in this film was just plain awful. It was gory and shocking, and amateurish - as if it was being written and filmed by a sick teenage boy. There was also absolutely no need for it. I think the director was delusional enough to imagine it served as a "motivation" for Dominika but as a woman let me tell you there was nothing motivating about those ridiculously bad rape and torture scenes.

Finally, it is clearly an Anti-Russian propaganda piece. The fact that the book was written by an ex CIA agent tells you all need to know. The story is basically a dull, juvenile, patriotic fantasy. In this film, Russians are all evil sick and twisted while Americans are angelic heroes. It is very insulting to sit through.

At one point, when the film was once again cutting jaggedly from incredibly long and boring scenes to jarring gory scenes, I wondered if the audience was being force fed horrible images and brainwashed in some kind of MKULTRA mind control experiment. That's honestly how bad it is.

I can't really recommend this film to anyone. It is not enjoyable at all, in fact, is is quite disturbing. I left wanting to forget it and I don't plan to ever sit through it again.