(This review may contain spoilers).
I’ve read one of the books in the Spooks series, but I haven’t read the first one, which was what this film was based on. I can’t say how close it stayed to the book, but I did find this movie an entertaining one to watch.
It was interesting to see the first scene with the trained apprentice. I like that actor in particular, so I was disappointed that he wasn’t seen more.
I did find Tom an intriguing character. I liked seeing his interactions with his family. It would have been good to see more of his brothers, considering he was the seventh son. I also couldn’t see much of a relationship between Tom and his father.
I liked Gregory as a character, too. It was good to learn bits and pieces of his past as the film went on. I also found Alice quite an intriguing character. It was good to see that not all of the witches were actually bad, even if that was what most people believed about them.
I found the romance very hard to believe, I have to say. I would have liked to see more development of the feelings throughout. I did like seeing Alice with her mother. Towards the end of the film, it was good to see more of the dilemma she faced, having to choose between her daughter and her sister.
I liked seeing Tom learning about being a Spook and I felt the training was interspersed nicely with the rest of the events of the film. I’m not sure I’ll watch it again, considering that I couldn’t believe in the relationship between Alice and Tom. I would have liked to see more of a focus on the family aspect, I think. Even so, it was an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.
Ink of Blood 