Nick Love's slam-bang Sweeney — like the Spooks movie — pivoted on the chemistry between a seen-it-all pro and a tearaway youngster, a format whose most sparkling recent iteration is Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service. — and while the character of course comes up trumps in the final reel, that's more than can be said for the performer or the picture as a whole. Squeezing the excitement and intrigue of even a 5 or 6 episode season (UK standard it seems) isn’t easy. A film based on a long running TV show, sure to disappoint fans. Spooks Run Wild (the title is the best thing about it) is sixty minutes of terrible gags, racist bullshit, and Bela Lugosi stalking about in the shadows.It's like a particularly bad Scooby Doo episode stretched into (almost) feature length. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. YOUTUBE. There is a stirring turn from Peter Firth, who appeared in every episode of the series, as spy chief Sir Harry Pearce, who suspects there may be something rotten at the heart of British intelligence. ... let’s be honest, far more engaging than the last James Bond movie. Film Review: ‘Spooks: The Greater Good’ A game Kit Harington headlines this strained, superfluous spinoff from the once-popular BBC spy drama. Click here to login or ... Can't find a movie or TV show? AdChoices This movie sucks. Among support-players here only Jennifer Ehle (as an imperturbable MI-5 bigwig) makes much impact, crisply channeling Meryl Streep via Margaret Sullavan with the snowy tremolo of her icily precise diction. Sales: Pinewood Pictures, London. | Do Not Sell My Personal Information Directed by Bharat Nalluri. While an entirely new creation, Holloway combines elements of two previous Spooks favorites: future Hobbit notable Richard Armitage's Lucas North and Matthew McFadyen's Tom Quinn. They should be renamed the East Side Middle Aged Men. Sitemap | FACEBOOK Login to write a review. Composer: Dominic Lewis p open profile menu. Spooks: The Greater Good review: 'faintly ridiculous' Star Rating Star Rating. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid. Production companies: Kudos, Shine British bookmakers are currently offering 33/1 against Harington becoming the next 007, odds which most punters will have little difficulty resisting. The movie, however, achieves none of the above. Sign Up. Spooks is very realistic and follows story lines that are real close to real world events. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. British spy thriller, a continuation of TV series Spooks.Harry Pearce's (Peter Firth) security is compromised after a known terrorist escapes from the clutches of MI5. Privacy Policy | It doesn’t exactly soar and the lack of levity grates, yet the Spooks movie still delivers some appealingly old-school mayhem to pass the time while we’re waiting on SPECTRE. That said, Harington's debut starring vehicle — Paul W S Anderson's Pompeii — proved less than explosive last year, and Spooks is more revealing of his limitations than his potential. “MI-5” looks exactly like what it is: a movie derived from a TV show. You can't help but admire the diligence with which the director, Bharat Nalluri, shows off his London locations. At times, it seems stranded in a no man's land between 007-style thrills and George Smiley-like spycraft. You need to be logged in to continue. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? Starring: Kit Harington, Peter Firth, Jennifer Ehle. ... Spooks writing veterans Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent penned the screenplay and stick to what … The current Obama/Cameron epoch provides, for good or ill, a less dramatic backdrop — and the recurring sub-plot of thorny US-UK collaborations ("the Americans think MI-5 is a weak link... they withdraw their support, our entire intelligence apparatus will collapse") never quite comes into focus. Spooks: The Greater Good review – TV spy show sprints on to the big screen 2 out of 5 stars. Costume designer: Colleen Kelsall THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER is a registered trademark of The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. s focus the search bar. Tense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they work against the clock to safeguard the nation. Spooks (known as MI-5 in some countries) is a British television spy drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 to 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. Producers: Jane Featherstone, Stephen Garrett, Ollie Madden Jennifer Ehle is good value as his enigmatic colleague. Typical movie for TV This film is basically the hunt that the MI-5 (British intelligence service specializing in internal security) promotes a fearsome terrorist who escapes them between the fingers. Production values, at least compared with Bourne or Bond movies, are modest. URL. Many of the spies look like provincial bank managers or jobbing civil servants. The Spooks television show is immersed within its own historical and ideological contexts, and in pursuing a serialised format, that rejects the prestige hallmarks of most espionage TV, is at the very least interesting. Haunted Spooks is a bit of a special one for me. Read our full mailing list consent terms here. Peter Firth and Kit Harington star in the pacey ‘Spooks: the Greater Good’, (15) Bharat Nalluri, 104 mins. Articles Slideshows English Articles. © 2021 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. Buy movie tickets in advance, find movie times, watch trailers, read movie reviews, and more at Fandango. For all its references to hacking and computer surveillance, its high-tech listening devices and gadgetry, the big-screen spin-off from TV's Spooks is an old-fashioned affair – a ripping yarn with more than a hint of John Buchan about it. Taxi Spooks (1929) ← Back to main. There is a sense that this is a film aimed primarily at British audiences who have a passing acquaintance with the TV show. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid. All rights reserved. The contrasting specters of Jason Bourne and George Smiley hang heavy over Spooks: The Greater Good, which semi-successfully translates the BBC's hit spy series to the big screen three years after its tenth and final season. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. The premise of the movie is one of those that can easily fall into destruction. Conceived as a British answer to 24, but with extra real-world grit and downbeat-classy Tinker Tailor touches, the BAFTA-winning Spooks successfully dramatized security concerns in the wake of 9/11, often touching on dealings between MI-5 personnel and their CIA counterparts during the era of the "special relationship" between George W Bush and Tony Blair. The website's critical consensus states: " MI-5 (Spooks: The Greater Good) is a stylish, albeit rather perfunctory, adaptation of a spy thriller perhaps best left on the small screen." Login. From its earliest episodes Spooks (a Brit-speak epithet for spies) was notorious for dispatching key sympathetic characters — including Danny Hunter, the breakthrough part for Selma's David Oyelowo — and North was one of many to meet a sticky end. Nalluri, who handled the first two episodes of the first two Spooks seasons and came back for the very final pair, is ploddingly content to follow the Hollywood-approved template for action/espionage fare, without ever imparting much of his own flavor. Best of 2020 THR Editor Picks of 2020 Movie Reviews TV Reviews Roundtables Podcasts 'Spooks: The Greater Good': Film Review. With Kit Harington, Peter Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Wildman. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. While more satisfactory as a Le Carré variant than as a Ludlum clone — thanks largely to the world-weary gravitas of top-billed veteran Peter Firth — there's only the ghost of a chance of this so-so mid-budgeter fulfilling its mission of sparking a new franchise, especially with Paul Feig's raucously larkish Spy to contend with. Our Verdict. It was the first Harold Lloyd movie I ever saw and the movie that really made me appreciate how much clever title cards can contribute to a silent film. As it is, they struggle to flesh Holloway out into three dimensions — the script is even peppered with derisive, hostage-to-fortune comments about his competence ("Harry was right about one thing: you're not good enough!") We are whisked from Heathrow to Waterloo Bridge, from the West End to Whitehall. 6:23 AM PDT 5/11/2015 The show was called “Spooks” when it ran on the BBC for ten seasons, from 2002-2011. Login to create it. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. This is James Wan after all, with David F. Sandburg directing, who is the creator of the short film this movie is based on. Cinematographer: Hubert Taczanowski Relatively diminutive, slight and with his Thrones locks —  he's contractually obliged to retain the Snow 'do — incongruously intact, he makes for a sullenly humorless presence here as hot-headed former MI-5 agent Will Holloway, who gets back in the game when terrorist Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel) escapes captivity and threatens London with a 7/7-style atrocity. Screenwriters: Jonathan Brackley, Sam Vincent Spooks: The Greater Good, movie review: Kit Harington and Peter Firth leap to the big screen at a ripping pace. The Spooks movie – Spooks: The Greater Good – is underway, and as you can see from this exclusive first-look still, it’ll be tauter than Hawkeye's bowstring. Editor: Jamie Pearson by EMAIL ME It is also historically significant as Lloyd lost part of his hand (and nearly his life!) Neil Young I hate the East Side Kids. Film critic Nick Duncalf reviews the big screen spin-off of the hit BBC TV series, starring Kit Harington and Peter Firth. Pairing another Firth (no relation) with crackerjack newcomer Taron Edgerton, Kingsman's fizzingly droll chutzpah can't help but make Spooks: The Greater Good, for all Peter Firth's ballast, seem dowdily old-school in comparison. But there were exceptions, including McFadyen's Quinn — who enjoyed a killer cameo in the final episode — and Firth's Pearce, who uniquely appeared in all 86 episodes and slowly emerged as the show's main draw. Overview of Beware, Spooks!, 1939, directed by Edward Sedgwick, with Joe E. Brown, Mary Carlisle, Clarence Kolb, at Turner Classic Movies Spooks series 8 episode 1 review. Create a commenting name to join the debate, There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts, There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. (15) Bharat Nalluri, 104 mins. Celebrity Celebrity ... Spooks Movie Review… We don't have any reviews for Taxi Spooks. ‘Spooks: The Greater Good’ - Movie Review “I want to know everything you know”. Spooks: The Greater Good is no different, boasting plenty of bridge-based reflective thinking backdropped by London skylines. Latest Movie Trailers Interviews Movie Review Videos Anchor Cuts Nettv4u Videos Sillaakki Dumma Videos Shortflims. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. while this film was in production. Latest British stab at spy shenanigans may struggle to lure viewers beyond fans of its small-screen source. | EU Privacy Preferences. Kit Harington in the new Spooks movie (Kudos) Wolstencroft and his team were putting the first episode to bed when 9/11 happened. Co-producers: Jane Hooks, Robert Norris What matters most, though, are the chases, explosions, bluffs and double crosses, all staged at such a relentless tempo there is no time to notice the cracks in the storyline. Oh my god. Terms of Use | The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. TWITTER Spooks: The Greater Good review – nonsense but fun 3 out of 5 stars. Nonetheless, when a high-value terrorist, Qasim (Elyes Gabel), is sprung from captivity, Holloway is brought in from the cold to try to get him back. It's great to see Firth granted a rare leading role at age 61 here — four decades after he earned Tony and Oscar nominations for Broadway and film versions of Equus — as Pearce goes AWOL and underground in the wake of Qasim's escape, leading his stuffed-shirt superiors to question his loyalties. Want to mark this comment as inappropriate the next 007, odds most... 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