Black Bag - Doppeltes Spiel

This taut spy thriller from Stephen Soderbergh doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel of the spy fiction genre, but it's definitely and thoroughly well-made and well-acted. Viewers should first and foremost know that this is a small-scale drama/thriller without action scenes and mostly set in a handful of relatively confined locations, so it is definitely not like a James Bond or Mission Impossible-style spy movie. For patient and sophisticated viewers who enjoy a lot of cleverness with their mystery and intrigue, "Black Bag" will prove to be an entertaining watch. The cast is generally pretty good, especially Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, who are the two leads.

The film feels stylish and polished despite its small scale and brief running time. Soderbergh's deft direction keeps things running quickly and efficiently, paying special attention to the psychological and intuitive motives of the characters. The plot developments aren't particularly unique compared to other spy films, which is what holds back "Black Bag" from being truly great, but its commitment to creating intriguing narrative tension in an entertaining way and at a small scale is commendable. Recommended. 7/10.

Yeah, itsss sort of a serious semi-realistic James Bond in high metropolitan life. While I like the artists involved, most of them play it quite well. The main negative entrance in the genre is Cat Blanchet though. She usually plays high drama roles and somewhat ironic twists, doing it very well.

Unfortunately, for me, her role as the dismantled Queen of England in medieval setting overshadows everything else. She absolutely showed sheer brilliance in that movie and a larger than life real woman of real decadence and love of life

Here, she really goes dark every time she tries hard, failing the part badly. Michael Fastbender does well and quietly carries a bit of swagger of investigative mind, but not tto great either. The movie is slow and sort of interesting at times, but so "pretensively modern life" that it leaves me with no choice but to walk out of it.

Let's be clear: this isn't a bad film. In fact, Black Bag is smart, sleek, and very well-acted. Fassbender and Blanchett deliver exactly what you'd expect from two world-class actors.

The premise? Strong.

The execution? Precise.

The feeling? All head, not enough heart.

As a writer, I usually love dialogue-heavy films. But here, the spy talk becomes so cold and so technical that it starts to feel like everyone in the movie was engineered in the same underground lab. Maybe they are. Maybe that was the point, to portray spies as a single type of personality, with a distinct way of thinking and communicating. If that was the intention, it's executed with precision... but it left me at a distance.

In short, I never really connected to what was at stake.

For me, there is a disconnect between the sophistication of the script and the emotional involvement it generates. The direction is competent and very "Soderberghian": minimalist, efficient, clean. But there are no big surprises that hit you in the gut.

The film wants to be cerebral, and it succeeds at that. Yet this spy thriller feels more like a staged play than a piece of cinema. I kept waiting for a moment of vulnerability, a rupture, an "out of the bag" moment (no pun intended). It never came.

It is a sharp, contained piece of work, and I admire its discipline. But emotionally, it left me outside looking in. Let's say I respected it more than I enjoyed it.

If you like quiet espionage, sharp suits, and even sharper dialogue, you will find some pleasure here. Just don't expect to feel much when the credits roll.

Ninety minutes was a smart limit. Anything longer and it might have started to overstay its welcome.

Would I watch it again? Probably not - but I'm glad I saw it once.

Greetings again from the darkness. Are you ready for 90 minutes of cool people wearing cool clothes and doing cool things while acting cool in the face of danger? If so, this one is for you. Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh (TRAFFIC, 2000; OCEAN'S ELEVEN, 2001; OCEAN'S TWELVE, 2004) dons multiple hats here as director-producer-editor-cinematographer (some under familiar pseudonyms). The screenplay comes from well-known writer David Koepp (JURASSIC PARK, 1993; MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, 1996). The pedigree of these two is exemplified by the cast assembled.

George (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn (Oscar winner Cate Blanchett) star as husband and wife secret agents that have pledged to kill for each other if ever necessary. Really, that should be part of every wedding vow. Fastidious George has built his reputation on his mystical ability to spot a lie, and has no room for anyone who is less than honest. Glamorous Kathryn excels at her missions and when secrecy is required, one spouse will utter the magic titular phrase, "black bag". This signals, 'I love you, but can't tell you more'. They live in a stunning London apartment, which serves as the setting for two particularly crucial dinner parties.

Every spy story worth its mettle has at least one MacGuffin, and ours is Severus, a sophisticated code worm designed to take control of nuclear weaponry. While it gets mentioned numerous times, the real story here is in discovering who the mole is inside the Secret Intelligence Service managed by Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan). The five suspects George must investigate include computer analyst Clarissa (Marisa Abela, BACK TO BLACK, 2019), easily tempted agency veteran Freddie (Tom Burke, so excellent in THE SOUVENIR, 2019), suave and self-confident Stokes (Rege-Jean Page, "Bridgerton"), and staff psychologist Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris, MOONLIGHT, 2016). You'll notice that's just four suspects, as the fifth (unknown to her) is George's wife Kathryn. Adding to the intricacies of the jobs, the dinner parties, and this mole mission is the fact that George and Kathryn aren't the only couple in attendance. Clarissa is dating the older Freddie, while Stokes and Zoe are also seeing each other ... and there are likely other surprise complications with this group.

True fans of spy thrillers should know that this is not a new TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (2011), but rather a user-friendly story in the mold of the "Mission: Impossible" movies - only with less action and no high-wire stunt sequences. Instead, these agents withhold a lot while still talking a lot (some of the dialogue is quite funny). It's more of a personality chess match than an assault on our senses. Complementing the verbose proceedings is a perfect twisty jazz score from David Holmes. We must also take note of the numerous ties to the James Bond franchise (Brosnan, Harris, and rumors), and it's best to just sit back and enjoy Soderbergh in his element (this is his second film released in 2025) ... entertainment with a cool vibe.

Opens in theaters on March 14, 2025.

It was one of those movies that's first hard to get into, but once you hit halfway you're invested. It's not that this movie was bad at all, it just didn't hit for me. It felt like a murder mystery, without the murder. It had fun twists and turns and dark at times. Them sitting around the table was the most intense parts, that goes to show you the amount of action in this movie. Just a warning if you're looking for any at all, this has none. Also most of this movie could have been figured out with a conversation between wife and husband, thay apparently trust each other so much. But whatever. Haha

Watched at AMC on 3-13-2025.