Spooks: The Greater Good

This movie was pretty much how I expected.

It's exciting enough, has some decent action. Some twists and turns. An older agent, a younger agent. Relatively standard stuff, really.

It's a thriller with some action sprinkled in. The action is alright, not incredible, but satisfactory. For a spy-movie it's a little more "realistic" than some of it's more action-oriented counterparts, and not too over the top. But the action isn't cheap-looking. There are bullet holes, blank-firing guns, some destruction.

Had this movie been a little longer, it could have been one of those movies that gets split up into shorter episodes and sent on TV.

Kit Harington is pretty good, the acting overall is good. You won't remember this for eternity, but if you like spy/agent-stuff, you'll have an alright time.

The Spooks TV show has been a popular hit in the UK. Now the producers have gone and made a spin-off movie. Peter Firth is back in his role as Harry while we welcome a new addition in the form of Kit Harrington.

First of all, this movie is somewhat separate from the TV show. You don't need to have seen the TV show in order to understand what is going on. The movie had a fairly decent storyline and that is what it mainly focuses on. There are also a couple of intense moments which is what I like in a thriller. There is also a bit of character development as well. Without giving anything away there are also a couple of twists. Don't go into this movie expecting gun fights and car chases - you will be disappointed. They didn't have that kind of thing in the TV show, so it would make sense to do the same thing for the movie.

All in all, it was a good movie to enjoy. I have only seen the first two seasons of the TV show which I enjoyed and I didn't have any problems with this movie. So for me it worked.

For the uninitiated, 'Spooks' (or MI5 as the Yanks say) was a British television show centered around MI5 spies (nicknamed Spooks and essentially the British NSA). Be under no illusions: this doesn't have blind patriotism, missing super-weapons or a suave chiseled hero. And while Kit Harington is the handsome lead star, the actual star is none other than long-time veteran Peter Firth.

Ah Peter Firth. Never has a older man with wrinkles and a receding hairline been so bad-ass. Firth is the blend of George Smiley and Jack Bauer, a very British and Un-Hollywood-y figure. And that's the key to The Greater Good's success: it feels fresh and oh so British that it may confuse the Yank audience expecting car chases and epic showdowns. Even the Arabic villain is sympathetic, never cartoonish or monologuing, and similar in part to Anwar al- Awlaki. Even a slightly simple Kit Harington fits perfectly in the thrilling spy jigsaw, being a disgraced case officer slightly too soft for such a cold world.

And yes, case officer. Not secret agent, as one is completely disposable and the other uses such people to achieve, yes, the Greater Good. Bond would not last in this world, and Bauer would make melodrama of decisions. Pierce would be break it down to cruel ugly arithmetic, one dies while two lives. As modern spy-craft goes, this is the most realistic to hit the big screen yet.

If you haven't seen the television series, this is a solid British spy movie with a thrilling storyline. If you have, some sweet Easter eggs will leave you smiling with secret glee. This feels like not a television movie but a gritty British film worthy of recognition. The actors, directing, setting compliment each other perfectly. It feels like going to a fancy restaurant and eating the greatest dish of Bangers and Mash. Simply thrilling and unafraid to let the audience think, this is a solid movie experience.

This is destined to have a sequel. If not, it at least is a beautiful little gem in a pile of stones.

"MI-5: The Greater Good" is an extension of the TV series "MI-5" that starred Peter Firth and dozens of other wonderful people. What made the show so great was that, for me anyway, the plots were never convoluted, you never knew if one of your favorite cast members were going to be killed, and the suspense in some situations was almost too much to bear sometimes. It was always exciting, intriguing, and you cared about the people who worked at MI-5.

The film stars Peter Firth, and I don't believe any of the other originals were present. Firth plays Harry Pearce, the head of the MI-5 Counter-terrorism division who, at the end of the long series, lost the love of his life, Ruth, to whom he had never really committed. Always dedicated to his work, he was never able to let it go.

Now, the CIA's most wanted terrorist is en route to be turned over to them when he escapes, thanks to a motorbike assault. As someone pointed out here, right away the film is in trouble. You can't be transporting the CIA's most wanted terrorist with no security riding around it.

Harry Pearce is blamed for the escape, as he disappears right after it happens.

MI-5 brings in a former agent, Will Holloway to help find Harry, as he was Harry's protégé. Harry believes there is a traitor within MI5, and he asks Will to help him find the mole.

The acting was uniformly excellent, with Pearce, Kit Harrington as Will, Lara Pulver as Erin, Jennifer Ehle as Geraldine, and Elyes Gabel as Qasim.

The movie just did not hold one's interest - it didn't move along at the kind of pace a film like this needs, and it felt like it didn't hang together.

Nevertheless, if they put out more films from the series, I'd watch every one. If you're a fan of MI-5 or Spooks, you will check this out regardless of the review, just as I would.

I am a humongous fan of the Spooks TV series (MI5 to our American friends) and really got my hopes up when I found out a feature film was coming out as a follow up to the ending of series 10, which did itself need a lot of redeeming.

If you're a fan of gritty British films, and prefer Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy over your run-of-the-mill bullet fest, this film could well be for you. Strong cinematography throughout, and it's clear that this is written - in a way - to honor Spooks and keep it alive, but little things like the set design of the new Grid just ruin the atmosphere that the old Spooks stayed strict to, for a reason. That however was nowhere near as bad as the films "Main" characters. I say "Main" because there weren't really any, just a group of monotone bores, a youthful touch from Kit Harrington (the writer personifies his idea of revitalizing the show) and Peter Firth, stretching his ability to always be the rock of the team to the limit by making him the only life in the movie.

It's amazing that throughout the first 6, maybe 7 series of Spooks, every spectator felt like they were watching a 2 hour film squeezed into an hour slot. Spooks:The Greater Good feels like a 50 minute TV show stretched into 104 minutes, without any added storyline or plot developments.

If you've never watched Spooks, you're mad and you're missing out, but watch this film first. You'll probably like it, it's confident in its approach, strictly realistic and contains a fantastic Peter Firth performance. But once you've done that, go back to Series 1 of Spooks and watch the whole thing. The film won't be so annoying to you that way.