Based on the British series MI-5, the feature-length film MI-5 (or Spooks: The Greater Good) tells the story of how head Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) works to uncover who is imploding his agency from the inside. After a terrorist (Scorpion’s Elyes Gabel) escapes, the heat is turned up on MI-5 and Pearce fakes his death to go looking for him.
After Pearce disappears, Will Holloway (Kit Harrington, Game of Thrones) is manipulated into pursuing Pearce. There are two games of cat-and-mouse here: Pearce chasing the terrorist and Holloway chasing Peace. As someone who wasn’t a fan of the show, the suspense is strong (what is Pearce’s motivation?) but for someone who watched the show, it seems that this is a bit more straightforward in the “wrongly accused” category.
Much of this is about politicking behind the scenes: like Game of Thrones. Unfortunately for Harrington, he’ll probably be tagged that way for quite some time. While he’s sold as the star (marketing!), Firth has more screen time than Harrington does.
Ultimately, it’s all about uncovering the mole – and Pearce’s decision-making. What would you do if it meant more people might live, if the “greater good” was at stake? Thankfully, I’ve never had to make those kinds of decisions. In the case of MI-5, it makes the last fifteen minutes pretty interesting, but the first 3/4 of the film are a bit of a drag.
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