2 hours Ago By Lucas Hill-Paul
Netflix’s new espionage thriller delivers sophisticated spy drama with plenty of intrigue and a dash of silliness for good measure. Black Doves introduces an alluring world of secret agents, assassins and dirty politicians to the streaming platform, which is gearing up for the Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw-led drama to become a major new franchise with a second season already in the works. A vast criminal conspiracy begins to unravel when professional spy Helen Webb (played by Knightley), planted to leak government secrets from her politician husband Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan) to the highest bidder, begins an affair.
Her lover Jason (Andrew Koji) soon becomes victim to a mysterious assassination scheme involving two other seemingly unconnected individuals, and Helen’s employer Mrs Reed (Sarah Lancashire) sends her triggerman friend Sam (Whishaw) to protect her. While Helen is desperate to get to the bottom of Jason’s death, she and Sam also find themselves on the radar of a shadowy criminal organisation that has London’s underworld in the palm of their hands. As she juggles keeping her family and children in the dark about her actual occupation and triggerman Sam wrestles with the temptation to get back with his ex Michael (Omari Douglas), they must decide where exactly their loyalties lie as the conspiracy pushes world superpowers to the brink of World War III.
Family drama, gripping action set pieces and a sprinkling of romance all become expertly interwoven in this undeniably watchable if slightly generic crowd-pleaser from Giri/Haji creator Joe Barton. Netflix ’s efforts to launch their own James Bond franchise is guaranteed to hit with British audiences in the long wait to find Daniel Craig ’s replacement, though it lacks some of the blockbuster heft that made his best 007 efforts shine. Set pieces on display in Black Doves are rather rudimentary for the most part, including a few too many shootouts and close quarters home invasion skirmishes that start to become hazy.
That being said, Knightley brilliantly levels up her martial arts chops from her Pirates of the Caribbean days, quickly becoming a surprise successor to Keanu Reeve’s iconic big-screen hitman John Wick. Indeed, it’s not just the cast’s brutally handy hand-to-hand skills Black Doves has in common with the Chad Stahelski-helmed neo-noir blockbusters, Knightley chopping and grappling her way across living rooms and London streets in pristine, high-end fashion like Batman from Surrey. Like the first Wick film, this six-part first season hints at an even wider world of criminal intrigue and political corruption hidden in the capital’s back alleys, and it won’t be surprising if the second season introduces an archaic, convoluted code of honour or sprawling safe house when new members of the Black Doves are inevitably introduced.
Its worldbuilding is certainly the series’ strongest suit, therefore, as it’s impossible not to wonder what other colourful assassins lie just around its fascinating corners. Add that to a contrastingly cosy Christmas setting (complete with inexplicable snow in London on Christmas Eve) and we get one of Netflix ’s most promising new outings. However, some glaring issues need to be addressed in the second season.
Namely, the convoluted who’s who and what’s what of the main conspiracy aside, the scripting is occasionally but woefully eye-rolling, packed with clever-clever quips and observations that make you forget we’re supposed to be watching human beings. Some delightful sweariness and turns of phrase do rattle off the tongue here and there, but being far too witty for its own good means Black Doves often trips over itself when the weighty twists and turns try to inject some gravitas. Overall, though, Black Doves is just what the streaming giant has been missing; a mostly smart and well-paced spy drama with stars at their most charming and deadly, exhilarating action beats and plenty of unanswered questions leading into the next season.
Black Doves will be released Thursday, December 5 on Netflix ..
