SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD (15)

4 stars

Spooks finished its television run on the BBC four years ago after nearly a decade of spy action. It's a curious thing to bring to the big screen, a show which no doubt has a loyal following, but also one that needs to work to satisfy long-term fans but also stand alone and be accessible to newcomers.

Whether it manages the first can only be answered by those in the know, but that it undoubtedly manages the second is to its great credit. It begins with a prisoner transport, with a terrorist named Qasim being moved in an armed convoy, with his bad guy cohorts in pursuit.

MI5 boss Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) makes the call to allow the prisoner to be rescued by his associates rather than risk a gunfight in an area busy with people. It might be realistic that they don't put up much of a fight around civilians, but it doesn't necessarily make for exciting cinema.What it does do is kick off the plot, which quickly reveals that it wasn't so much feeble police work as it was about signs that point to a conspiracy.

The CIA are miffed that Qasim is on the loose, and Harry is forced to carry the can, leaving him out of a job and faking his own death in order to do his own digging.

This in turn forces Harry's former bosses to bring in Will Holloway (Kit Harington), an ex agent currently in Moscow who is brought back to London to track down Harry. Harry has disappeared, intent on finding the mole himself while also trying to stop Qasim from orchestrating a major attack on London.

It's once Harry and Will get together that the film starts piling on backstory and histories which may or may not be part of the show's mythology. It doesn't really matter, since it works just fine either way, and it's soon clear that this is serious, tough stuff, full of life and death decisions that give the title its resonance.

Harington may be the marquee guest star, but Firth is the beating heart of Spooks and Harry is a tremendous character, and pretty much the only main player to have made the transition from the TV show.

Honourable, but also dangerous, uncompromising and full of tricks, his insistence that agents can either do well, which is to follow orders, or do good, which is to do the right thing, gives the film an edge of questionable morality over others of its ilk.

There's not much glamour going on here though; this is British spying, where the reality is London traffic and pouring rain. Harington gets to do a small amount of Bourne-style clambering and acrobatics, but it's playing wannabe in these scenes and close-up fights, something for the trailer rather than a true representation of what the film is.

Wisely it doesn't try to overplay the action though, with the focus on intrigue making it gripping as a result. Mostly it's very good at detailing actual spy-work, something that's often missing from modern day espionage movies. It's Bond without the superhero, mired in politics and really quite absorbing, with secrets and hidden codes all part of the shenanigans of this particular spy game.

The plot barrels along, twisting this way and that, stretching out several genuinely tense sequences, and always leaving the question hanging of who is on what side. Some previous investment in this world might offer even more value, but even for audiences discovering Spooks for the first time it's still a lot of fun.

Director: Bharat Nalluri

Running time: 104 mins

ROSEWATER (15)

3 stars

American satirical chat show king Jon Stewart makes his directing debut with this impressively put together drama that never quite achieves the desired or required spark to make it stand out.

Gael García Bernal stars as Maziar Bahari, a real life Iranian journalist working in the west who on his return to his homeland is imprisoned by the authorities on suspicion of spying, and interrogated and psychologically tortured for months on end.

This makes for powerful, hard-hitting scenes as his interrogator ceaselessly questions him, but the lack of variety becomes a problem after a while. Bahari once took part in a spoof interview on Stewart's The Daily Show, part of the reason he was arrested, and the film is cut through with a wry humour that plays on the absurdity of the situation without detracting from its impact.

Director: Jon Stewart

Running time: 103 mins

TOP FIVE (15, 102 mins)

2 stars

It's difficult not to detect a level of self-indulgence in this brash comedy-drama written and directed by Chris Rock, and starring Rock as a very Chris Rock-like character surrounded by many of his showbiz pals.

He plays comedian Andre Allen, who found huge success as a stand-up before hitting it big in idiotic but moneymaking movies like the Hammy the Bear trilogy.

A recovering alcoholic, he now wants to make legitimate, serious films, which doesn't quite mesh with his engagement to a reality TV star.

Rosario Dawson is the journalist shadowing him on the opening day of his new film about slavery, resulting in a film full of those walking-towards-camera shots down Manhattan streets so beloved of indie comedies.

Loose and meandering and not especially insightful, Top Five is more serious than you may think, but not funny enough when it tries to be.

It's also a hard film to like, very upfront and a little leery, though it works best as an examination of celebrity lifestyle and fame, albeit while not exactly breaking new ground.

Director: Chris Rock

Running time: 102 mins

GIRLHOOD (15, 113 mins)

3 stars

Sixteen-year-old Marieme (Karidja Touré) lives on a tough housing estate on the outskirts of Paris with her two younger sisters and domineering older brother.

She seems like a decent enough teen but the centre of this hard hitting drama is the way in which she falls in with a bad crowd and her behaviour starts to change for the worse.

It's amazing what just a change of hair and demeanour can do for an actor and a character, as Marieme turns to bullying and violence in a film that captures with a keen eye the language and attitudes of disaffected youngsters.

Her turnaround is a bit too sudden, and she's not quite compelling enough to fully invest in, but the question of what this may escalate to and who Marieme may become hangs over it, and though it's in no particular rush to get anywhere Girlhood is powerful nonetheless.

Director: Céline Sciamma

Running time: 103 mins