by 
29/19
Helen embarks on a passionate affair with a man who has no idea what her secret identity is. Helen’s employers, caught in the crosshairs when her lover falls victim to London’s dangerous underworld, call in Sam to protect her. Bing, the owner of the guitar shop where Sam obtains his weapons, is played by Rat Scabies, a member of the band. The Damned.. Starring Cher/Keira Knightley/Michael Fassbender/Josh Brolin/Jalen Ngonda (2024). Fairytale of New York Written by Jem Finer, Shane MacGowan Starring The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl. STAR RATINGS: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Good ** Poor * Terrible ‘Helen Webb’ (Keira Knightley) lives with her husband Wallace (Andrew Buchan), the Secretary of State for Defence, and their two children. Everything seems idyllic until her former commanding officer, Reed (Sarah Lancashire), returns to her life to inform her that her secret lover, Jason (Andrew Koji), has been killed along with two others, causing her to resurrect her former life as a secret spy, on a course for revenge. Reed reunites her with Sam (Ben Whishaw), a hitman and her former trainer, and together they navigate a complex web of political espionage and assassination that still has the potential to operate in new and different formats. Black Doves came out of nowhere with a massive advertising campaign and became the latest major Netflix production to top the charts, aiming to revive the genre in the modern era. The result is a truly mixed film that keeps your attention through its pleasantly brief eight episodes, but fails to cover up the flaws in the script. Overall, it’s a pretty standard spy story with some pretty standard cloak-and-dagger clichés that anyone familiar with old spy capers will recognize, and even embrace with affection. The big problem is the uneven tone. The script bounces unevenly between sneering action comedy and dark, heavy espionage thriller, leaving you too distracted to really get through it. But it makes up for it with some stylish, flashy action sequences, with Whishaw and Knightley making a convincing pair of mismatched professionals, with strong support from Lancashire as the icy, detached M-type commander. The spy thriller remains one of limitless possibilities, and despite its shortcomings, Black Doves is a strong addition to the core lineup, with an intriguing mystery at its heart, some strong performances, and action to match. ***