CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Doug the Brain This was a well developed series and gave an interesting view of the times from across the pond. My interest was spurred by the movie that was recently released, and now after binge watching the 10 seasons it is time to re-watch the movie.Most of the characters in the series were well developed and some of the plot twists were unpredictable. It was a little hard to believe that such a small group of people handled such large responsibilities and were able to be replaced so easily.It would have been nice to see more than 10 seasons, but there must be a reason to end it when they did (my search for sequels is what led me here to begin with). The last episode definitely left me looking for more! I recommend this series to any interested in a good spy series, or those interested in seeing things from a different perspective.

solpsizm If I could give this a 7.5 I would, but sans .5s I'll give it an 8 because when this series was good it was really good.For those of us in the states whose main exposure to espionage thrillers was 24, this series is different from that in 2 main ways: 1) the series doesn't revolve around one main character and so main characters do die and 2) the production values/budgets are not as high as 24, especially in the first few seasons, so as sometimes is the case suspense is generated in MI-5 in ways that derive more from actual espionage and cat and mouse games than gun battles or high-tech surveillance.At least in the first few seasons, which may be difficult for viewers accustomed to fast, perfectly synchronized and action packed 24 type entertainment. (Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of 24, especially the first 3 seasons, but after 9 seasons of one character having literally a 100 lives, one need something a bit more close to reality). Guns are used by the main characters only with absolute necessity, and I don't think they ever used anything above handguns. As the seasons progress though, this series incorporates more and more elements from a 24 template, from a more frenetic pace, prevalence of guns and especially bombs, explosions and big set-pieces, to stories that incorporate conspiracies within conspiracies. although thankfully the number of arcs dealing with corporations pulling the main strings were limited.The greatest source of suspense in this series is the fact that save for the possible exception of Harry Pearce, no character is safe from exile or death (mostly the latter). Because this series, at least for the majority of the first 8 seasons, is procedural, this is even more important, for in any one shot episode featuring a villain who will not appear again, almost any character can be killed or forced to leave MI-5.Not that this is a character-centered suspense series. Althoughh we get glimpses into the main characters personal lives for the first 8 seasons, for the most part the characters are seen only as in their importance as officers of MI-5. And the guest characters, mainly villains, are not portrayed as either instanly sympathetic or villainous, but mostly a combination of both. The lack of over-sentimentality is often seen in the officers' use of assets, ie. people who can serve the successful completion of their mission. They are often used and discarded by the MI-5 officers, often with minimal remorse.Around seasons 5, 6 and 7, this series becomes an amalgalm of its first 3 seasons and a 24 type entertainment. It is here that this series is at its best, where big set-pieces and vast but compelling conspiracies combined with the fact that we know any character can die at any moment create cool and satisfying suspense.2 things to note: 1) there is a heavy anti-American theme throughout the series that permeates even to the horrific and cringeworthy American accents employed by the English actors. (but to be fair, no one from the Russians to the own British government is safe from being villainous as well). 2) Seasons 9 and 10 are atrocious. Unnecessary and ridiculous backstories are created for the 2 most likable characters simply to generate shock value, and characters are made to do preposterous actions that make no sense either in their character arc or by logic. Despite this, this series overall is very entertaining, especially in its middle seasons, and is well worth a watch for anyone craving smart suspense that is not overly contrived.

Carlo This is one of the best TV series of its kind. Most spy stories are far-fetched tales of brave heroes who single-handedly save the planet from villains ready the blow up the whole world, and of course they do it all by themselves, by sleeping with beautiful women, jumping from 50 metre tall buildings, killing an army of villains with just one revolver, etc etc etc - think of the 007 and the Mission Impossible movies, for example.This is way more realistic. Of course there are some holes in the plot, but in general this TV series tends to be about team work by a group of ordinary people who happen to work for MI5, and whose work, in fact, takes its toll on their private lives. The actors of this TV series will plant bugs in a house, try to infiltrate terrorist cells, do intelligence work etc all to stop the villain in each episode, but it is all quite realistic: there isn't a computer analyst that can retrieve everyone's school records from 50 years ago in 10 seconds, like in Criminal Minds, nor unrealistic heroes of the kind played by Sean Connery, Tom Cruise, etc. Nonetheless, or, actually, because of this, the stories are never banal and, in fact, most episodes are mini-thrillers: you think you figured it all out but only in the last ten minutes do you realise that you, in fact, hadn't.Another aspect I really appreciated is that it doesn't try to portrait security services as the 'good guys' against the 'bad guys' who simply 'hate us for our freedoms'. In many episodes of the show, for example, the motives of the villains are related to things like war atrocities committed by Britain and by Nato. You will hardly find any of that in American shows. Take '24', for example: that show is all about 'us' vs 'them', about how the end justifies the means, and about how it is right to torture prisoners, etc. Spooks is entirely different, which is one of the many reasons it is one of the best TV series of its kind, ever.

ccollins1982 good if not unrealistic in some aspects are mi5 officers armed was under the impressions there supposed to be more invisible and unarmed and un able to arrest anyone lol but the last series was absolute rubbish was hard to stay interested .....im British but feel that at times it seems so anti American its hard to believe it gets put on TV in the USA....and the Russians seem to always be out manoeuvring them ...as irritating as it may be at times its a shame its being cancelled and as usual its been cancelled without a replacement in place maybe they should re brand it and set it in the cold war could be more interesting......it was more interesting when there was one story line per episode rather than dragging a main story line out over the whole series and the constant changing of the main character is irritating i find my self losing track of some of them not to mention how many times they change the home secretary its like 7 in 10 years ......its good but flawed in some aspects sometimes u just have to put your brain to sleep and watch personally id rather watch the first few series and not bother with the last 2 and the ending was a bit disappointing