Spectre

WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this review. I can understand why some are leaving the theatre after seeing the twenty-fourth James Bond film a little underwhelmed. I’d say that I did as well, but “Spectre” is not a bad film. There are several very good parts and not really any bad ones, just sequences that are a bit slow or not as impactful as you’d like them to be. As the fourth film in a row to feature Daniel Craig as Bond, this one continues the recent trend of having actual continuity. In this sense it’s rewarding to see the consequences of the characters’ actions and we get the re-introduction of the SPECTRE organization, modernized and updated for this new, gritty iteration of Ian Fleming’s most renowned son.

After the events of “Skyfall”, 007 (Craig) finds himself in Mexico City, creating quite the scene. This unofficial mission of his couldn’t come at a worst time for the ‘00’ program, as it is about to be dissolved in favor of a global surveillance system. Max Denbigh, also known as “C” (Andrew Scott) declares Bond and his fellow agents troublesome and obsolete. Working without any backup or sanctions, 007 is accompanied by Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) as they follows a series of clues which lead them towards the mysterious global organization known as Spectre.

Because I ultimately feel more positive (or I feel like giving the film the benefit of the doubt more than I don’t) I’ll start with the flaws as I see them and we’ll finish up on a high note. “Spectre” feels a lot less like your typical Bond film than I expected it to. There is a lot more actual spy work here, so we’re talking about interrogations, tracking down names, traveling to locations while hiding your true intentions but not as many car chases, use of gadgets and explosions as I thought there would be considering Spectre used to be an ultra terrorist organization with little use for subtlety in all of the films you’ve seen it in. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes for an inconsistent tone throughout and it’s never like a “real” spy movie, more like a James Bond film imitating a real spy movie (in which it’s all about subterfuge and guns are always a last resort) The beginning of the picture (the post-credit sequence before Sam Smith’s “The Writing’s On the Wall”) is full of chases and gun battles. We have a very exciting final act with Christoph Waltz as the main villain. In between there are a lot of different people moving in different directions and if you’re even slightly distracted at any point you’ll lose track of who is doing what and why. I’d say it’s a little slow because there’s so much information and so many different aspects to keep track of that there’s not much room for action. When there it, it’s almost out of place.

Dave Bautista plays an enjoyable part in the film, a hulking assassin after Bond. I liked seeing him because he serves as a worthy physical threat to compliment the intellectual danger that Christoph Waltz as the main villain presents. Every scene Waltz was in had me captivated, but I feel somewhat underwhelmed by his “story”. It’s not that it’s necessarily bad, but to me it made the world that these films have been building feel way too small. It wouldn’t have been a bad thing if there had been hints of it all along (and maybe there were and I simply missed them because I didn’t know to look) but it all feels a little bit too convenient for my taste. My greatest rival is Mike Schneider, responsible for the absolute worst film I have ever seen and whose death I shall celebrate even though as far as I can tell he is unaware of my existence. But my vendetta just happened randomly. It’s not like he and I grew up next to each other as children or that we had a mutual lover in college that drove a rift between us. It’s just that our different paths along the world of movies has ended up putting us at odds with each other and should we ever meet in person, it’ll get ugly. By having the two biggest personas in “Spectre” be as close to each other as they are here, it just feels weird.

On the positive side, I really loved the challenge that Bond has to face here. Spectre is a colossal foe, one that is compelling to see brought again because there’s a ton that can be done with it. The more I think of it, the more unsettling this organization is, and in a way that feels disturbingly real. It’s like the villain from “Quantum of Solace” whose evil scheme was out there, but is actually based on a real person. I hope nothing like Spectre exists, but if it did I’d believe it to a certain extent. The film also makes full use of its characters, once again making it feel rewarding. Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Q (Ben Whishaw), M (Ralph Fiennes) all have important parts to play in this big story, as does the “Bond Girl” Swann. The film is very successful in its updating of familiar and favorite Bond elements, such as the trick car and the hero being bound while a device prepares to filet him. A laser that would have sliced Bond in two would seem like small and even humane ordeal compared to what the antagonist in “Spectre” has in store for our hero.

When the film puts forward action sequences they are exciting and inventive. When it kicks into high gear, it really fires on all cylinders. I said that there are slower segments, but this is a picture that is going to get better with multiple views. You’ll be able to know ahead of time what to pay attention to, meaning it will be less disorienting. If you see all four Daniel Craig Bond pictures in quick succession I get the feeling that it’ll all feel like the epic saga it’s meant to be. I’ll make a point to do so before the next film is released.

Before I close up I have to give some special praise to Monica Bellucci who has a small role in the film but is absolutely gorgeous and brings an element of gravity to this plot. I hope she comes back up again. I was hoping to love “Spectre” and unfortunately I don’t. That sounds worse than it is though because I liked it a lot more than I did not. This is a film that I’m going to see again and I’m anxiously anticipating what the next chapter will bring us. Not only because I’ve become a fan but also because this series is building towards something big. My advice to you is to have yourself a mini marathon and watch all of Daniel Craig’s pictures as James Bond and then see “Spectre”. You’ll get the most of it that way. (Theatrical version on an oversized big screen, November 14, 2015)