Knightfall: a promising throwback to the British spy thriller
There is something rather appealing about Knightfall. At a time when espionage films increasingly seem determined to become sprawling international spectacles, this new British thriller appears to be aiming for something altogether more modest: a handful of spies, a dangerous secret, a country house under siege and enough betrayal to keep everyone looking over their shoulder.
The plot centres on Ros Knight, an MI5 scientist caught up in a disastrous operation involving a biological weapon. With assassins pursuing her, she turns to her estranged father Charles Knight, a former spy-catcher, while MI5 agent Hugh — played by Geoffrey Moore — becomes involved in the increasingly desperate attempt to survive.
The premise is hardly revolutionary, but that may not be the point. Knightfall seems deliberately to belong to an older tradition of British espionage cinema: more atmosphere and character, less reliance on enormous explosions and computer-generated spectacle.
The most intriguing casting choice is Geoffrey Moore. The fact that he is Roger Moore’s son is impossible to ignore, particularly when he is playing an MI5 agent. Yet the film will ultimately have to stand on its own rather than depend upon that family connection. Moore has not appeared in a feature film for decades, making this something of a cinematic return. He previously appeared with his father in Fire, Ice & Dynamite.
There is also a pleasingly eccentric supporting cast. Ian Ogilvy brings considerable British screen history to the role of Charles Knight, while Michael Paré and Nick Moran add recognisable genre credentials.
The pitfall is that Knightfall feels less like a rediscovered British thriller and more like an imitation of one. The trailer suggests a film made on a relatively restrained budget, and some of the action appears closer to straight-to-video territory than contemporary prestige television. That isn’t necessarily a criticism: low-budget thrillers can be enormously enjoyable when the storytelling is confident.
So Knightfall must focus not the size of its explosions but the quality of its suspense. Can the father-daughter relationship acquire enough emotional weight? Does Moore possess the screen presence to make Hugh more than simply the obligatory darkly handsome MI5 agent? And can the film create genuine tension once the action moves towards the country-house siege? And on this level Knightfall just about pulls through.
Knightfall certainly isn’t pretending to reinvent espionage cinema. Its appeal appears to lie in its familiarity — a British setting, old-fashioned spies, sinister government conspiracies and a cast that understands the pleasures of the genre.
The Roger Moore connection will certainly get people excited. It’s intriguing, nostalgic and fun, and worth a watch on home screens.
ON DIGITAL from 11 September