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MI-5, Volume 1Rating:
Release Date: 13 January, 2004 Retail Price: $49.98 OUR Price: $29.99 You SAVE: $19.99! Cast: |
MI-5, Volume 1 Reviews
"Season 1" Is Not Nearly As Good As The Hype
Riddled with philosophical contradictions (*not wanting to offer a spoiler, I'll post an example of what I mean at the end*), the show also suffers from scripts that are incredibly predictable, characters that are 2-dimensional and nauseatingly self-righteousness, and villians who are really evil (but in an appropriately "politically correct" way). It was not until the last 10 minutes of Episode 6 (the final for Season 1) that I was even remotely hooked.
Slick, yes. Accurate (as far as the entertainment industry goes) on par with Matt Damon and Jason Bourne (which is to say, not much at all). Ideologically driven, yup (even more than "The West Wing").
Bottom line, written to appeal to the UK's pubbin' and clubbin' twentysomethings, this is light fare and not one of the BBC's best offerings (and I am a HUGE fan of much of the BBC's catalog). Alas, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" it is not....
*Semi-spoiler follows: For instance, in one episode the U.S. is mocked by the show's main characters/heroes for its support of capital punishment, yet barely an episode later the heroes order an assassination of someone they find unpalatable, a revenge killing at that, and no one can see the hypocrisy of it all, never mind the irony
A shaky pilot gives way to excellent acting and intriguing stories.
When I played the first episode of MI-5, Volume 1, my heart sank farther and farther over the course of the next hour. The cinematography was weirdly cheery, the villains were completely without menace, and the main characters were confusing, vaguely characterized, and seem a little too young for the genre of the show. After this episode, I was already thinking about how much I'd fetch when I send this DVD set to a second-hand bin.
But as Episode 2 rolled along, it's like the show woke up from slumber and began to gallop.
The comparisons to 24 are a little convenient -- two espionage shows on two sides of the Atlantic, both surfacing around the crucial year of 2001? But if you go into MI-5 expecting the ferocious action, ruthless characters, endless treacheries and gritty camera work of 24, you'd probably be a little disappointed. MI-5 doesn't quite have the gut punch of 24 -- few shows do -- but what it does have is a very good cast, unusual plotting, a quirky sense of humour, and an eye for detail for the minutiae of life in espionage. Also, because it's not bound to the real-time and L.A.-centric conceits of 24, MI-5 is actually broader in scope, dealing with Irish terrorists, Islam, race-motivated hate crimes, and European anarchists all within the first six episodes collected here.
While I was initially skeptical of how babyfaced the actors looked, they prove to be very fine performers. According to the supplementary materials on the DVDs, half of the members of MI-5 in real life are under the age of 40, so in that respect, the casting would make sense. Matthew MacFadyen, despite his soft eyes and boyish good looks, can deliver intensity and resilience which convince us he could really be the second-in-command of this section of MI-5, Keeley Hawes drips with doe-eyed beauty and great comic timing, and David Oyelowo mixes mischief and determination nicely. The crowning member of the cast is Peter Firth as Harry Pearce, the inscrutable leader of the group; he conveys both the steely core of the character and the humanity.
I can't fathom why the pilot, with its weak, incoherent plot involving an anti-abortion terrorist with no sense of menace, was so unengaging. But aside from this one dud, the other five episodes are in fine, engaging form. MI-5 has its share of nail-biting scenes, the most powerful of which is the infamous Episode 2 ending, which was so harrowingly intense that it probably trumps any shock scene ever delivered by 24 -- no small feat indeed. After that it's a fabulous ride, culminating in an Episode Six with a thrillingly broad scope, brisk pacing, and another very satisfying suspense sequence as the final course. And throughout the episodes, the writers keep a keen eye towards the fascinating details of life as a "spook", an added layer of fascination which gives the show a unique character and brings us closer to what it's like being an MI-5 agent.
Aside from the unsatisfying pilot, there are just a few minor gripes: The DVD design went nuts trying to be creative, but ends up with a design that's awkward to navigate as well as buggy -- several buttons on the menu froze up my DVD player, and none of the main-menu items are marked. Please, next time, don't sacrifice convenient access for style. They made a great effort to include lots of bonus materials, but the cast/crew interviews are shallow and sluggish in pace (more editing please), making all the actors seem sleepy and unfocused. And since this set is only six episodes long, the overall arc of the episodes will seem a lot less satisfying than a full-on season. However, these shows remain a great introduction to a show that carries all the thrills of the espionage genre, while giving it a unique spin.
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