Fractal Matter

Stardust is a tale following the lovestruck Tristan through his adventure to gain his dream girl’s (Victoria played by Sienna Miller) heart. To do this he must bring her back a fallen star.

This entails sneaking past a gate keeper whose job it is to keep those who live in Wall on the right side. Unfortunately, though fast for his age, he’s already failed once in keeping a resident of Wall on the right side - Tristan’s father. Tristan manages to get through the gate and off to a very strange place indeed. With help from his mother Tristan finds the star but is surprised at what the star actually is, though this doesn’t stop him from trying to bring the star to his beloved Victoria.

He’s not the only one after the star however; three witches and a prince are also after the star as the heart of a star will keep a person alive well beyond their time. The star also carries a jewel that will proclaim the king of the land.

Stardust is a lovely story that is enjoyable, fun and the perfect fairytale. One person, however, steals the film even though there are loads of cameos. Robert De Niro will make you either forget how to speak or laugh until you cry, possibly both.

The main drawback is that this UK DVD (the US version has a “making of” but no commentary) lacks special features; the only thing on it is a audio commentary with Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman. Though it does lack in any fun features, the commentary is a lot of fun. They talk about the differences that had to be made taking the book to film as well as complaining endlessly (Vaughn) of having to do shots with only one of the 4 actors that should have been there. This causes Vaughn to be grumpy through the commentary but he lives.

The DVD is worth your money even without loads of features, Stardust is a definite winner and completely re-watchable.

Review by: Sabrina Peyton

Directed by Doug Liman
Starring Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L Jackson and Rachel Bilson
Review by: Alasdair

Jumpers have the whole world at their feet. Born with the ability to teleport, they can go anywhere, do anything, no rules apply to them. David Rice found that out the day he left his hometown behind forever and likes nothing better than enjoying the high life with seemingly no effort and no consequences. But an encounter with Roland (Jackson), leader of the Paladins, an organisation who have hunted Jumpers for centuries leads David to uncomfortable truths about his own past and a realisation that there are always consequences.

Adapted from Stephen Gould’s book, and pretty loosely too, by all accounts, this is the sort of film Doug Liman seems to revel in doing. Tokyo, the Coliseum, New York, the jungles of Brazil, the North Pole, Chechnya and that really nice hotel in the Middle East that looks like a sailing ship (By the way, capitalise that phrase and it’s the hotel’s actual name all turn up. Manly discussions are had, violence is committed, a driven young man with no past does impossible things.

Sounds familiar? Well, that’s because it is and not simply because of Liman’s work on the The Bourne Supremacy. The massively retooled script keeps very little from the original novel and ramps up the action, the end result being empty but by and large, pretty fun.

The action sequences are, as they desperately needed to be, astounding, in particular a brutal fight between Griffin (Bell) and two Paladins in the Coliseum and Griffin and David’s frantic chase across the world in the film’s final half hour. There are some nice ideas sketched out too, ranging from the hint that some Jumpers develop an affinity for certain types of objects and can Jump them, to the war with the Paladins and a hint that Jumpers are far, far more widespread than anyone thought.

But that’s just the problem. They’re sketched. There are a good four concepts that the film hurtles past which have infinite potential for stories in their own right and instead, all we get in essence, is Liman setting the pieces on the board. Don’t get me wrong, if this was a pilot for a TV show then I’d be calling it the hit of the year but as a film, safe in the knowledge that the sequel, should there be one, is a minimum of eighteen months away it’s a massively frustrating watch.

There’s a lot to enjoy here, don’t get me wrong with Christensen a likably normal leading man and Bell wonderful as the spiky, bitter, clearly demented Griffin. Jackson and Bilson in particular are far less well served, Bilson’s genuine wit and comic timing reduced to simpering girl-in-distress but there’s not a weak link in the chain. Apart from the script.

If you can cope with a film this fast, this ideas heavy and somehow this empty then Jumper is for you. If you want something with back story, then this is not a trip you’ll want to take.

Director: Chris Weitz
Writer: Chris Weitz based on the novel by Philip Pullman
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Richards, Eva Green, Ian McKellen, Sam Elliott, Christopher Lee

The Golden Compass is an adaptation of the first of Philip Pullman’s trilogy of fantasy novels collectively known as His Dark Materials. The book was originally published in the UK as Northern Lights. The film jettisons some of the more complex and controversial aspects of the book, namely the role of religion, and instead concentrates on the journey of its young protagonist, Lyra, which takes her from the safety of a university campus, where she lives as the ward of an adventuring University Professor, to the frozen wastes of a fantasy Scandinavia populated by talking polar bears.

Reviewers and fans have drawn comparisons between The Golden Compass and other high brow fantasy series, namely LOTR and Narnia, but The Golden Compass cannot hope to achieve the same levels of success. LOTR plays with well established archetypes (Dwarves, Elves and manly heroes) that exist outside Tolkien’s universe, and which provide some context for viewers who are not already numbered among the books’ many fans. The Narnia books have been a staple of childhood reading for at least 3 generations and the first book (and film) at least contains enough familiar territory (a family escaping the blitz and the appearance of Father Christmas ) to give it some degree of broader appeal. The Golden Compass, however, has substantially more work to do in establishing not only the characters, but their context within an elaborate pseudo Victorian fantasy world. Perhaps wisely, the film makers simply show us the world and leave the viewers to accept and make sense of it in their own time. The obvious downside of this however, is that the characters can, and do, get lost amidst the spectacle.

The central premise of the film is that people in Lyra’s world have animal spirit forms, called daemons, which manifest outside their bodies. Children’s daemons are not fixed in their form and change from birds to mice to whatever, while adults’ daemons have a fixed form. These daemons connect people to a substance called ‘dust’, not the kind that gathers under the bed or on top of the bookshelves, but a magical substance that pervades the multi-verse, and which the Magisterium, a ruling oligarchy of clerics, believes is proof of the original sin.

The plot thread that takes Lyra on her journey of discovery follows on from two events. One is the disappearance of children from the town outside the University, the other is her guardian, Lord Asriel’s, discovery of a potential portal to another world somewhere near the North Pole and his capturing of the normally invisible Dust on film. Lord Asriel, played convincingly by Daniel Craig, sets off to return North, having secured funding for his expedition while Lyra’s friends, Billy and Roger, are kidnapped by the ‘Gobblers’ and Lyra herself is taken under the wing of a sinister Mrs Coulter, again well played by an ice cold Nicole Kidman. At this point Lyra is given the titular Golden Compass by the Dean of the University in the belief that she is one of the few people alive who can make use of it. Subsequently, Lyra escapes from Mrs Coulter and sets out to find her friends with the help of a group of Gyptians (a sort of gypsy underclass) many of whom have lost children themselves.

On her travels, Lyra learns how to use the Golden Compass, which seems to act as a sort of oracle. She also befriends the exiled Prince of a race of talking Polar Bears and Sam Elliot, who plays to type as a grizzled frontiersman; although this time he is a balloonist. The film ends after a reasonably satisfying denouement, but like Jackson’s Two Towers, it ends before the book, leaving a pivotal segment for the next movie.

The film as a whole seems to fall between its two audiences. Those who have read the book are likely to find the most interesting elements of the story to have been watered down, and those who haven’t are in danger of being overwhelmed by the combination of world building and plot mechanics. Sadly the result is that character development is left behind and the young actress who plays Lyra, Dakota Richards, doesn’t quite have the skill or charm to breathe life into the main character. Eva Green, who appears as a leader of a group of friendly witches, and Sam Elliot both play important roles in the plot but are hardly more than character sketches. Daniel Craig gives a short but decent performance as Lord Asriel, which leaves only Nicole Kidman, as Mrs Coulter, to shine. She manages to do more than say the lines, and brings a much needed complexity to what could have been a one dimensional character.

Overall the film is certainly spectacular, with some exciting battle sequences and moments of dramatic tension. It is however ironic that a film whose premise is the search for the human soul, should be so lacking in heart.

Voices: Chiara Mastronianni, Gabriella Lopes, Catherine Deneuve, Dannielle Darrieux, and Simon Abkarian
Writer/Director: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

Persepolis is a comic book movie that delivers the closest interpretation of the original comic to the big screen. It is a story that is universal about a woman who could never fit in. Creator Marjane Satrapi tells her life story in a beautifully animated manner where the level of clarity of story and translation is delivered that may make Persepolis the most faithful translation in the history of comics to film.

Persepolis is an autobiographical work about how creator Marjane Satrapi grew up a very happy child in Iran in the 1970’s. But when the Iranian revolution of 1979 occurs what was once fun becomes verboten. The story talks about the nature of war on a human level and what occurred when Satrapi wanted to be herself. The road to defining her identity becomes a journey that goes to Austria and back to Iran before a final departure to France. There is pain, racism, resignation, fear, and ultimately rebirth. Satrapi’s story is very personal in its nature and how she tried to reconcile her history defined by geography and family with her inner voice that searched for the truth and joy of life. This inner voice is what drives Persepolis. The story demands that the viewer comes with an open mind and an ability to think about the nature of man and how ignorance will be the most destructive weapon against the world.

The sound of Persepolis is very lyrical. The inflection of characters voices vary from cheerful to matter of fact, this is helpful for an audience because it helps bring context to many a scene to allow it a sense of gravity. The music of the film delivers a dreamlike effect that allows the viewer to see the tale as Satrapi imagined in her head.

Artistically, no animated picture will look as good as Persepolis. By going for 2D animation over the overtly sculpted computer animation, Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud give a movie that looks like it was drawn from Satapi’s hand to the screen. It also allows a viewer the ability to read the comics and not feel out of place after seeing the film. Satrapi’s style is such that it draws you in by using a line style that communicates the human experience broadly in order to pull the viewer in to a universal tale of identity. The greyscale tones used for the flashbacks that take up the majority of the film are so simple and expressive; they deliver the emotion for the scene in a beautiful manner. The color scenes in the present loses a bit of the expressive nature in the line, but this use of color helps express the sadness that Satrapi has in reminiscence.

So, the bar has been raised for movies based on comics and graphic novels and in portraying Satrapi’s vision, it helps elevate and evolve the discourse of art. This is perfect filmmaking of a tale that entertains and demands audience thought.

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Written by Diablo Cody
Directed by Jason Reitman
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby and Allison Janney

Juno is a movie that mines comedy from very unfunny ideas and through wit, romance and skill, delivering a comedy that is crass, but not vulgar, with a story that is quirky yet traditional. It is a film that presents the unexpected in a manner and purity from a first time screen play by writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman whose last film Thank You for Smoking

led to much uncomfortable laughing.

The film’s plot is simple; Juno McGuff (Ellen Page) goes and drinks a bottle of orange drink before taking a pregnancy test. After the test is declared positive, Juno who reminisces about the act that lead to her pregnancy and decides to tell the father of the child to be Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) She does so by moving the furniture used for the conception from her house to Paulie’s front yard. Many uncomfortable moments of dialogue occur and then the movie goes onto a strange set of scenarios. First off, Juno tries to procure an abortion, but finds the facility cold and disturbing. So with the decision to keep the child in play she looks to give up the child to a couple in need of a child named Mark and Vanessa. (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). The plot then twist and turns in funny and bittersweet way leading to an ending that gets to the point and works into an overall entertaining film.

The story itself from first time writer Diablo Cody is very distinct. The parents of Juno (J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney) receive not only a very positive portrayal as understanding parents, but through their conversations it explains in a subtle way why Juno is how she is. The kids act like high school kids and not super smart kids, the adults have jobs that deliver a sense of lower and upper middle class life turned up side down by a person’s stubbornness. The dialogue from Juno McGuff’s mouth is silly, yet very insightful. Juno has no fear, even while 8 months pregnant she says what is on her mind, and it leads to a lot of the conflict and entertainment in the movie. The greatness is that Juno is sympathetic and stubborn with a bit of indifference that is unique.

Jason Reitman’s direction reinforces the off kilter references in the script by offering a visual style that is distinct for the film. Every room is distinct and different from all the other rooms. This sense of design shows in subtle ways how each person is defined. The McGuff family home is a mix and match mess, while Vanessa’s home is very sterile with the exception of Mark’s room filled with music equipment. Each place brings some thing different and unique to every scene. The music of the film is very quiet and can almost come off like it was made for the film with good punctuation by the score complimenting the entire movie.

The most amusing part about Juno is the use of television actors to present a nuanced human work. The trend as of late is that Television acting delivers stronger work than film does and it makes perfect sense that Jason Reitman went with TV actors. Ellen Page did some time on the Canadian shows Trailer Park Boys and ReGenesis. J.K Simmons was on Oz and the guest villain on many a TV show. Jason Bateman and Michael Cera delivered a mini Arrested Development reunion, Allison Janney served on West Wing and Jennifer Garner kicked butt on Alias. Everyone was essential and their work is appreciated.

Hopefully Juno continues to entertain people as it goes onto the award circuit with the film and lead actress Ellen Page getting nominations. The film was a fantastic work and Page is a talent worth looking at. Juno is the best comedy of 2007 and could honestly be the best film of that entire year. So if you have the time, go and watch this truly funny, great and slightly serious film

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Writer: Drew Goddard
Director: Matt Reeves
Producer: Bad Robot
Starring: Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas T.J miller, Michael Stahl-David and Mike Vogel

Cloverfield is a film that built its success on an advertising campaign and narrative style similar to the Blair Witch Project. It was pre sold on the thought that curiosity over the ominous poster with a headless Statue of Liberty would be captivating enough for people to watch a film where no one knew what was to be expected. Fortunately this reviewer was familiar with the writing of Drew Goddard, a former Staff Writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer who delivered some fun episodes of said series, and with this in mind saw a free screening and left wanting to pay 10 dollars American to see the movie again.

The plot of the film is fairly simple; a “top secret film” screen with United States Department of Defense logos opens the film, indicating that the events within are something bad. After which the film goes into the plot, during a New York going away party a large explosion occurs, things get turned over and a lot of property damage occurs. This damage is so terrifying that people are trying to escape New York City. This escape becomes impossible when it is found that a big monster, and its hatchling little monsters, have gone out for a walk in the city and they are a bit hungry. The film, shot in a real time manner, chronicles four people trying to escape.

The main idea of Cloverfield is not terribly original, monsters attack a city and people are terrified, but Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves decide to give the audience the movie equivalent of the original Orson Wells broadcast of War of the Worlds. The film shot on a digital camera lends a sense of the imposed “Real Danger” the cast has to face, and the mounting dread that things may not work out for anybody. As a ground level looking up film, Cloverfield brings a sense of terror to the monster that pays off; making the actions of the characters seem more feasible and believable.

The characters in Cloverfield bare no need for mention. The use of actors with limited exposure helps the film deliver its realism, yet in a way the whining of most of the characters can make some people want to see bad things happen to the young yuppies. The cast is not likable, but they are amusing. The Monster, which is the star, is a terrifying piece of work and the twist on how the monster spawns off is so influenced by H.P. Lovecraft that his estate should get a residual.

The genres borrowed from in Cloverfield are similar in that they use suspense to excite an audience, and overall Cloverfield succeeds by re-producing this effect and making people feel some thing. Be it terror, humor or even anger. Cloverfield delivers a genre film that takes what works from the Horror, Sci-Fi and Reality forms of storytelling and melds them together into 85 minutes of film that feels like it could really happen.

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Screenplay by John Logan, Adapting the musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen

The best way to describe Tim Burton’s interpretation of Sweeney Todd is that he went out of his way to make A Tim Burton film using a genre that isn’t his normal work space; the musical. However, he fits well in this adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical. Sweeney Todd works because it is a film that lends itself to the director’s vision in a complete manner, illustrated by the presence of Burton stalwarts Jognny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter as the two leads in what is arguably the greatest gothic romance ever.

The story as told in flashback and song is the story of Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) who was sent to prison because a corrupt judge named Turpin (Alan Rickman) wanted his wife and child as his own. After escaping prison Barker come back to London to get his revenge. Barker reinvents himself as Sweeney Todd the Barber of Fleet Street, goes home to his old apartment and is informed by his former landlord Mrs. Lovett, (Helena Bonham Carter) that his wife had died and his child is the ward of the judge. Todd hearing this revelation decides to bring vengeance to all those who have ruined his life. As this progresses, and payback is done, the problem of the dead bodies pops up and Mrs. Lovett who owns a meat pie business decides that a new pie recipe would solve the body issue. Insanity, blood, and song progress until the final act when things go finally, and remarkably completely, wrong.

Musical fans will appreciate Sweeney Todd because most of the dialogue is sung, and sung very well. The singing by Depp, Carter, Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen, none of whom are professional singers is so pronounced and nuanced that their performance delivers a full emotional range. Each actor was not only convincing but they pulled off the musical elements in definitively. This enables the film to deliver terror, fun and mayhem that’s convincing heartfelt and at the end truly tragic. The acting is actually important in this film because at the core of the film it is about love being lost, rejected and misinterpret by every character and how this love if dismissed can cause destruction.

Burton’s direction is very gray and dark and for the bleak nature of Sweeney Todd that’s an essential factor. The film was so drained of color that when color did emerge it was dramatic; in particular when the blood started flowing. The limited palate of color worked for the film because the only sign of life was the blood that escaped the victims of Todd’s vengeance. The look of Sweeney Todd delivers, perfectly, a cold Victorian world that saw life in death.

Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a film that deserves greater recognition than it has received because Tim Burton went and did something different while remaining in his comfort zone. It is one of the better adaptations of a musical and cash willing it does the most important thing a movie of a musical could do…make someone want to sit through the stage version.

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Director: Chris Weitz
Writer: Chris Weitz based on the novel by Philip Pullman
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Richards, Eva Green, Ian McKellen, Sam Elliott, Christopher Lee

The Golden Compass is an adaptation of the first of Philip Pullman’s trilogy of fantasy novels collectively known as His Dark Materials. The book was originally published in the UK as Northern Lights. The film jettisons some of the more complex and controversial aspects of the book, namely the role of religion, and instead concentrates on the journey of its young protagonist, Lyra, which takes her from the safety of a university campus, where she lives as the ward of an adventuring University Professor, to the frozen wastes of a fantasy Scandinavia populated by talking polar bears.

Reviewers and fans have drawn comparisons between The Golden Compass and other high brow fantasy series, namely LOTR and Narnia, but The Golden Compass cannot hope to achieve the same levels of success. LOTR plays with well established archetypes (Dwarves, Elves and manly heroes) that exist outside Tolkien’s universe, and which provide some context for viewers who are not already numbered among the books’ many fans. The Narnia books have been a staple of childhood reading for at least 3 generations and the first book (and film) at least contains enough familiar territory (a family escaping the blitz and the appearance of Father Christmas ) to give it some degree of broader appeal. The Golden Compass, however, has substantially more work to do in establishing not only the characters, but their context within an elaborate pseudo Victorian fantasy world. Perhaps wisely, the film makers simply show us the world and leave the viewers to accept and make sense of it in their own time. The obvious downside of this however, is that the characters can, and do, get lost amidst the spectacle.

The central premise of the film is that people in Lyra’s world have animal spirit forms, called daemons, which manifest outside their bodies. Children’s daemons are not fixed in their form and change from birds to mice to whatever, while adults’ daemons have a fixed form. These daemons connect people to a substance called ‘dust’, not the kind that gathers under the bed or on top of the bookshelves, but a magical substance that pervades the multi-verse, and which the Magisterium, a ruling oligarchy of clerics, believes is proof of the original sin.

The plot thread that takes Lyra on her journey of discovery follows on from two events. One is the disappearance of children from the town outside the University, the other is her guardian, Lord Asriel’s, discovery of a potential portal to another world somewhere near the North Pole and his capturing of the normally invisible Dust on film. Lord Asriel, played convincingly by Daniel Craig, sets off to return North, having secured funding for his expedition while Lyra’s friends, Billy and Roger, are kidnapped by the ‘Gobblers’ and Lyra herself is taken under the wing of a sinister Mrs Coulter, again well played by an ice cold Nicole Kidman. At this point Lyra is given the titular Golden Compass by the Dean of the University in the belief that she is one of the few people alive who can make use of it. Subsequently, Lyra escapes from Mrs Coulter and sets out to find her friends with the help of a group of Gyptians (a sort of gypsy underclass) many of whom have lost children themselves.

On her travels, Lyra learns how to use the Golden Compass, which seems to act as a sort of oracle. She also befriends the exiled Prince of a race of talking Polar Bears and Sam Elliot, who plays to type as a grizzled frontiersman; although this time he is a balloonist. The film ends after a reasonably satisfying denouement, but like Jackson’s Two Towers, it ends before the book, leaving a pivotal segment for the next movie.

The film as a whole seems to fall between its two audiences. Those who have read the book are likely to find the most interesting elements of the story to have been watered down, and those who haven’t are in danger of being overwhelmed by the combination of world building and plot mechanics. Sadly the result is that character development is left behind and the young actress who plays Lyra, Dakota Richards, doesn’t quite have the skill or charm to breathe life into the main character. Eva Green, who appears as a leader of a group of friendly witches, and Sam Elliot both play important roles in the plot but are hardly more than character sketches. Daniel Craig gives a short but decent performance as Lord Asriel, which leaves only Nicole Kidman, as Mrs Coulter, to shine. She manages to do more than say the lines, and brings a much needed complexity to what could have been a one dimensional character.

Overall the film is certainly spectacular, with some exciting battle sequences and moments of dramatic tension. It is however ironic that a film whose premise is the search for the human soul, should be so lacking in heart.

Starring: Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Brendon Gleeson, Angelina Jolie
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay: Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery

Though not quite perfected, the CGI-rendered adventures of Beowulf (12A, Warner Bros.) is clearly at the cutting edge of the medium and those merely expecting a cartoonish outing ( a la The Incredibles) or attractive but overwrought project (Final Fantasy) may well be pleasantly surprised by this weighty and ALMOST visually-realistic adaptation of the myth.

Beowulf (Ray Winstone) is a boastful warrior, whose exploits precede him and grow with each telling. He heads to the kingdom ruled by old friend King Hrothgar (Sir Anthony Hopkins) to aid him against a malevolent creature, Grendel (Crispin Glover), which has decimated his army and land. But there are many secrets and agendas at work and Bewoulf and his men will learn some hard lessons as they look for a way to kill the creature and save themselves. As much a story about personal demons as the ‘real’ variety, this film may use the latest technology, but it builds on very fundamental dramatic themes.

CGI has yet to capture the sparkle of the soul behind the eyes, but otherwise the graphics here rise beyond most video-game adaptations and within a few minutes of beginning to watch the film, audiences will forget they are not watching the real actors at work. Ray Winstone grabs the titular role by both virtual hands and gives it his all. Sir Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich and Brendon Gleeson also impress. Angelina Jolie has been a hard-sell in the promotions and though in the film for less than ten minutes, makes the most of her screen-time.

There will be those who would prefer a live-action adaptation and certainly there are moments when the illusion of reality gets broken. However even at this stage, such a live-action film would be impossible to create on a realistic budget and though there’s a strong argument for the blending of the two (a la 300), it’s hard not to give Beowulf its due as a genuine trailblazer if not the perfect CGI outing.

A few mis-steps include an almost Austin Powers-like ability to unrealistically put inanimate items in front of Beowulf’s animated manhood ( a golden Jolie, on the other hand gets a full frontal, with only gold paint and a lack of nipples to protect her modesty) and there are a few show-off set-pieces which scream out ‘oooh, look what we can do in 3D now’ - largely forgivable because, well, ooooh look what they CAN do in 3D now!

Gaiman and Avary’s screenplay whips along at a fair pace, quite an accomplishment given the breadth and depth of the source material. The 12A certificate (in the UK) is a careful judgement but even so this is an outing perhaps best aimed at teenagers and above. The blood flows, the innuendo isn’t subtle and though based on legends, this is no fairy-tale outing. Not for the faint of heart, but an interesting step in cinematic evolution, this is an entertaining outing for all concerned and a special treat if viewed in the superior IMAX 3D.

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Starring: Rupert Penry-Jones, Hermione Norris, Peter Firth, Razar Jaffrey, Miranda Raison, Hugh Simon, Gemma Jones, Tim McInnerny and Anna Chancellor

A new series and a radical new direction for MI5’s prettiest field operatives. Spooks has been criticised in the past for veering wildly from Le Carre-esque tradecraft into 24-style action without managing to connect the two elements but now, as series six opens, it seems like they’ve found a very different, very effective way of marrying the two.

The series starts off simply enough with Zaf (Jaffrey) undercover in Iran monitoring terrorist activity, Adam (Jones) conducting a work-ordered affair with the wife of the Iranian ambassador (And, it seems, a non-work-ordered affair with Ros) and the team preparing to eliminate an Iranian bomb maker on his way to London.

Then, in short order, all hell breaks loose. What starts out as a simple failure in intelligence snowballs until a chemical weapon has been released over Tehran, the man they were sent to kill attempts to defect and a deadly virus is released onto the streets of London, with both Zaf and Adam amongst the infectees. For almost the first time, the situation ISN’T neatly resolved in forty five minutes and by the end of the first episode, you’re left with more questions than answers.

The result is electrifying. As the series progresses, it’s becoming clear that three threads are going to be common elements throughout. The growing difficulty with Iran, to say nothing of the weapon release, the apparent death of Zaf and a mysterious figure pulling the strings, known only as ‘Copenhagen’ are all introduced in these two episodes and all are left consciously unresolved. It’s a brave move, especially the Zaf story but it only heightens the ambiguity that the series has always thrived on. For the first time, there’s a real sense that Harry and his team are off balance, on the back foot and this culminates in an operation in the second episode that not only ensures they and England will be pariahs in the intelligence community for years to come but leads to one of the series’ best ever action sequences, as a critically ill Adam makes a run for the nearest hospital whilst behind him, Jo is staring down the barrel of a Russian secret agent’s gun.

The cast seem to be relishing the new found focus, with Penry-Jones in particular on top form as Adam and Norris and Raison doing excellent work as agents who are experts first and women quite definitively second. There are no double standards here, everyone is in just as much as trouble, just as much danger as everyone else and again, that only heightens the tension. The addition of Connie James, an old colleague of Harry’s (Played by Gemma Jones) only improves matters, as does the repositioning of Harry himself. Firth has more screen time in these two episodes than ever before and the series seems to be focussing more on him as a central character. It’s a fantastic choice as Firth is more than up to the task and Harry, the battered, somehow still idealistic Cold War veteran is amongst it’s most interesting characters.

Fast paced, surprising and epic in scope there’s a case for these being the strongest episodes of Spooks to date, If the season can continue this level of quality, then we’re in for something very special. Highly recommended.

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