Black Bag - Doppeltes Spiel

This is not your average spy thriller: it's mainly talk, tons of it, between a small group of British intelligence employees who all seem to live their personal and work lives in each others pockets and beds. To attempt to add gravitas to the production, the colour has been desaturated and the light dialled down to dull and grim, so viewers know it's a serious drama, not James Bond.

There are a few effective action set pieces to keep viewers awake ( not my wife, unfortunately, she slept through most of it ) but not really enough, I'm guessing, to satisfy the action fans.

For film fans who try to see everything that opens in cinemas, only.

Full disclosure: when I first saw the trailer for Black Bag, I wasn't impressed. In fact, I was even less impressed when I assumed it was just another run-of-the-mill spy thriller about agents hell-bent on destabilising Moscow.

Boyyyyy, was I wrong.

This film is an absolute class act - an intelligent, gripping espionage drama that had me hooked from start to finish. Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender deliver powerhouse performances, balancing raw intensity with the kind of nuance that elevates the film beyond your standard spy fare. Their chemistry is electric, and every moment between them crackles with tension.

The supporting cast is just as strong, with Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan adding layers of intrigue and depth. The dialogue is razor-sharp, and the script is packed with twists and turns that never feel forced - just expertly crafted storytelling at its finest.

Steven Soderbergh is in his element here, blending sleek cinematography with a tight, sophisticated narrative. It's stylish, smart, and effortlessly cool. If you think you know what to expect from Black Bag, think again. This is espionage cinema at its absolute best.

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.

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.

I find myself increasingly weary of the spy film genre, especially those that center around a romantic couple. It has become a trope so familiar, so predictable, that the very notion of it now feels like an exercise in the mundane. Each iteration feels almost mechanically constructed, as if there is an unspoken formula at play, one that prioritizes style over substance, a kind of cinematic sleight of hand designed to keep the audience distracted from the lack of originality beneath the surface. In this particular instance, however, the dialogue attempts to elevate itself above the usual banter of its kind, but only to the point of indulging in an almost ostentatious, borderline pretentious, air of intellectualism. There's a certain artifice to it all-an effort to sound clever, to sound profound, that ultimately rings hollow. The conversations between the characters, rather than offering any real emotional depth or compelling insight, instead feel like performative displays of wit, which do little more than alienate rather than engage. This was a film that seemed more concerned with showcasing its own perceived sophistication than with crafting any meaningful connection with its audience. And yet, despite all its verbal flourishes, it never once managed to grasp my attention in any truly significant way. The pacing felt sluggish, the stakes hardly compelling, and the emotional core-if one could even call it that-was so underdeveloped it barely registered. In the end, it was less a work of cinema and more an exercise in style over substance, one that never captured my imagination or curiosity.