Plot
When a terrorist escapes custody during a routine handover, Will Holloway must team with disgraced MI5 Intelligence Chief Harry Pearce to track him down before an imminent terrorist attack on London.
Release Year: 2015
Rating: 6.3/10 (6,713 voted)
Critic's Score: 46/100
Director: Bharat Nalluri
Stars: Kit Harington, Peter Firth, Jennifer Ehle
Storyline
MI5 personnel are caught up in a traffic jam in London while escorting the CIA's most wanted terrorist to an arranged CIA handover point, when he is suddenly rescued by armed men on motorbikes. Harry Pearce, the head of Counter-Terrorism at MI5 is blamed for the terrorist escaping. Especially as Harry disappeared shortly after the incident. An ex-agent, Will Holloway, and protégé of Harry's is recalled by MI5 to assist in finding and bringing Harry in. However Harry has disappeared for a reason. Certain that there is a traitor in a senior position in MI5, he enlists the somewhat reluctant Will to help him in uncovering the rat or rats concerned.
Writers: Jonathan Brackley, Sam Vincent
Cast: Michael Wildman -
Robert Vass
Tuppence Middleton -
June Keaton
Geoffrey Streatfeild -
Calum Reed
Peter Firth -
Harry Pearce
Elliot Levey -
Philip Emerson
Matthew Walker -
Prison Van Officer
Elyes Gabel -
Adem Qasim
David Harewood -
Francis Warrender
Jennifer Ehle -
Geraldine Maltby
Tim McInnerny -
Oliver Mace
Ronan Summers -
Ed Lansbury
Luke Harris -
MI5 Officer
Amra Mallassi -
Hamza Ahmadi
Lara Pulver -
Erin Watts
Kit Harington -
Will Holloway
Taglines:
Loyalty is treason
Country: UK
Language: English
Release Date: 4 December 2015
Filming Locations: Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
This movie was first released in the same 2015 year as a number of other spy, espionage, intelligence, and secret agent movies, with a couple of them also comedies. The movies include Spy (2015) [a Bond spoof]; Spectre (2015); Sicario (2015) [FBI; which has a title which is almost an anagram of Ian Fleming's "Risico" (1960) James Bond short-story bar the letter 'A']; Survivor (2015) starring Pierce Brosnan; Black Mass (2015) [FBI]; Mortdecai (2015) [has an MI5 agent lead character]; Queen of the Desert (2015) [central character was a WWI attaché to the British Secret Service]; the Bondian Furious 7 (2015); Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) [which shot in three of the same countries as Spectre (2015): Austria, England, & Morocco]; Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies (2015) [a cold war espionage thriller]; The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) [Ian Fleming was an original co-creator], MI-5 (2015) aka "MI-5"; and even Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) [a Bondesque homage], a 2014 film but which was mostly widely theatrically released in 2015. Also in theaters in 2015 from 2014, was Pierce Brosnan and Quantum of Solace (2008)'s Olga Kurylenko in The November Man (2014); and the heavily Oscar nominated World War II espionage film, The Imitation Game (2014). First released in 2014 were 3 Days to Kill (2014) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). See more »
Goofs:
When Will Holloway is rescued in Moscow, he gets into a Tesla Model S. When the car pulls away, the sounds of urgent engine revving and gear changes are heard. The Tesla Model S is a fully electric car and hence makes no such sounds. See more »
Quotes:
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User Review
Author:
Rating: 8/10
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.
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