Spooks – Verräter in den eigenen Reihen (2015)

Spooks – Verräter in den eigenen Reihen: Directed by Bharat Nalluri. With Michael Wildman, Tuppence Middleton, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Peter Firth. 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.

“When I was buying my ticket to u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; (R, 1:44), the cashier asked me if I knew that this movie was not u0026quot;Mission: Impossible 5u0026quot;. I said that I did, and we briefly spoke about the confusion caused by the title of the movie that I was about to see. As if on cue, as I walked away, I heard the woman who had just come to the box office request a ticket for u0026quot;Mission: Impossible 5u0026quot;. She decided to choose another movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHer confusion is understandable. Just a few months before the British spy thriller u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; hit American theaters, u0026quot;Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nationu0026quot; (sometimes referred to as u0026quot;M:I-5u0026quot;) was playing widely in the U.S. Lest anyone think that u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; is trying to ride the coat tails of u0026quot;M:I-5u0026quot;, I should mention that the former is a cinematic continuation of the 2002-2011 British TV series of the same name. And, ironically enough, the jump that u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; made to the big screen mirrors that of u0026quot;Mission: Impossibleu0026quot; in which the first of the movies has the hero of the TV series going rogue. If all that is too confusing, maybe this will help: The British series is called u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; in the U.S., but was titled u0026quot;Spooksu0026quot; in the U.K. (after the common nickname for spies around the world) and the film version is known overseas as u0026quot;Spooks: The Greater Goodu0026quot;. I hope that clears up any confusion, and Iu0026#39;ll just talk about the British film from here on in.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Spooks: The Greater Goodu0026quot; / u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; takes its name from the legendary British Secret Service which is responsible for counter-terrorism and counter-espionage as it works to protect British governmental and economic interests. When Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel), the CIAu0026#39;s most wanted terrorist, escapes British custody while being transported to American agents, Harry Pearce (Peter Firth), head of MI-5u0026#39;s counter-terrorism department (Section D), is blamed. With u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; facing an existential crisis and trying to save face after Qasimu0026#39;s escape, the organization pressures Pearce to resign. Instead, he disappears.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFormer MI-5 agent, Will Holloway (Kit Harrington), who was only with the agency for a year, is brought in to help find Pearce. Hollowayu0026#39;s father used to work with Pearce. MI-5 agents Geraldine Maltby (Jennifer Ehle) and Mace (Tim McInnerny) – with their boss, Francis Warrender (David Harewood) backing them up – tell Halloway that Pearce has more information about Hallowayu0026#39;s fatheru0026#39;s death in the field than the young man had previously known. Halloway is reluctant because Pearce was the one responsible for Hallowayu0026#39;s dismissal from MI-5 years before, but he really wants to get the whole story behind his fatheru0026#39;s death, so he sets out to find Pearce.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHolloway uses some of his MI-5 skills to catch up to Pearce in Berlin, but gets much more than he bargained for. Before Pearce tells Holloway anything else about his father, Pearce enlists Holloway to help him in his self-assigned one-man mission to find a traitor within MI-5. Holloway doesnu0026#39;t like or trust Pearce, especially when he finds out Pearce has been in contact with Qasim, but his encounters with another agent (Tuppence Middleton) lead Holloway to believe that Pearce is right about the traitor within their organization. The rest of the film involves a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in which Pearce works Qasim to discover the traitoru0026#39;s identity and Holloway works desperately to prevent a terrorist attack on London.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;MI-5u0026quot; / u0026quot;Spooks: The Greater Goodu0026quot; effectively mixes influences from the u0026quot;Mission: Impossibleu0026quot; movies and TV shows like u0026quot;Homelandu0026quot; and u0026quot;24u0026quot;, but isnu0026#39;t quite as good. Some of the filmu0026#39;s plot points feel contrived, but the main story is interesting and keeps the audience guessing. The script contains great lines (u0026quot;You can do good or you can do well. Sooner or later they make you choose.u0026quot;) as it delves into the complicated world of counter-terrorism in the 21st century and explores the difficult decisions we must make to survive in that world. Gabel isnu0026#39;t quite menacing enough as the villain, but Firth brings forward his character from the TV show wonderfully, while Harrington is great in this modern u0026quot;Game of Thronesu0026quot;. Itu0026#39;s too bad that woman chose not to see u0026quot;MI-5u0026quot;. She missed a very entertaining movie. u0026quot;B+u0026quot;”