'Spectre' Lives Up to Spectacular Billing, Doesn't Surpass Expectations
Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) returns to helm the twenty-fourth instalment of the Bond franchise, Spectre. After the huge success of his previous effort Skyfall, Mendes has huge expectations to fulfil with this movie. It certainly lives up to its fast-paced action sequences and moody plot twisting billing but doesn't surpass its predecessor.
We begin in Mexico City during the annual Day of the Dead parade. Our first glimpse of James Bond (Daniel Craig) is him wearing a skull printed suit, black top hat and a skull mask. Of course, he is accompanied by an attractive female who links his arm as they walk from the streets of the parade into a hotel after spotting a suspicious gentlemen in an all white suit. Almost from the get-go we track behind Bond and his lady as they navigate through the hotel into an elevator, then finally into their hotel room. The female lays on the bed luring Bond to her. However, Bond has other ideas. He's removed his skeleton print suit and top hat, and proceeds to exit the room via a window. He jumps from building to building whilst loading his gun with his game face on. He settles at the edge of a roof top with his pistol precisely targeted on a trio of men in a room (one being the man in the white suit) in the adjacent building. After a few tense moments, the men spot Bond and gunfire is exchanged. Suddenly, a large explosion engulfs the building the men inhabit, ripping the front facade of the building apart leaving Bond in a precarious situation as it crashes towards him. It's worth pointing out, this impressive opening few moments is all constructed from a single tracking shot that opens this movie up wonderfully.
After he takes a few leaps of faith to avoid the falling rubble, Bond finds himself landing on a conventionally placed sofa. Dusting himself down, he notices the white suit man has somehow survived the explosion and fought his way through the crumbled building. Bond sets about chasing his target down the crowded streets of the parade, which ends in a tense and nail-biting fight inside a helicopter that teeters on crashing down onto the huge crowds of festival-goers below.
tying up loose ends
After an impressive start, we cut straight into the opening credits which features attractive women wrapping themselves around Bond, gunfire and a rather large octopus; it's musical accompaniment by Sam Smith whimpers in the background. Although the mood of the opening credits works within the context of the movie that proceeds it, I still fail to have any affection for Smith's song. However, that is a minor flaw of a particularly enjoyable spy thriller.
What follows that mediocre credit sequence is better, but that's not a tough thing. After his opening battle in Mexico, Bond managed to salvage a ring that features the octopus symbol of Spectre, a terrorist organisation fronted by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). Yet, before Bond and his team set about tracking down the group, the movie decides to tie up some loose ends.
Bond visits Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) who we last saw in Casino Royale. Their scene in a run down deserted mountain side cabin is a particular highlight for me. It's a darkly apprehensive and brilliantly acted scene. However, in the grand scheme of things it slows the overall pacing of the narrative down. It is needed to introduce us to Lea Seydoux's Madeleine Swann — who inevitably becomes Bond's girl du jour — but this whole tie-in with Bond's past lacks panache and punch. Seydoux does the best with the ingredients she's given, but the script invariably lets her down as Spectre progresses. When Swann is introduced she's built as being vital to the plot-line given she has an inside track to the workings of Spectre. As the story develops, she's a mere vehicle for building tense and hair-raising moments, and someone for Bond to rescue later on.
bond of yesteryear
When the movie leads us to the introduction of Waltz's Oberhauser, Spectre really begins to stretch its legs. The way Mendes introduces us to Oberhauser is a clear nod to Bond movies of yesteryear. He enters a dimly lit conference-like room and sits at the head of a long mahogany table. The entire room falls silent and the tension felt is impressively constructed by Mendes. Waltz utters very few words in this scene, but when he speaks, we sit up and take notice.
As soon as Waltz firmly enters the fray of the narrative, Spectre becomes a stronger movie. Waltz's acting ability is on full display during the creepy torture scene which sees him drill small holes in Bond's neck and head. It's tough to describe without giving it away, but it's a weirdly infatuating scene to watch. Nonetheless, I can't help but feel Waltz is under utilised. When you have an actor of his ability as your lead villain, you should use him far more extensively rather than holding him back until about an hour in, or at least tease him more seductively. Also, the reveal that could have been so incredibly shocking fails to raise an audience eyebrow as we have been so widely aware of it from the beginning of its production.
strong and impressionable
Spectre returns to London for its final act which hops back and forth between Oberhauser’s attempt at getting under Bond’s skin psychologically by tricking up the wreckage of the MI5 headquarters leading to a fairly standard race against time ending as Bond tries to save Swann. That scene intertwines with a rather flat subplot involving M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) attempting to take down the villainous pen-pusher C (Andrew Scott), which doesn't quite work as it undercuts the intensity of movies finale. Scott as C is massively missed cast, too. His approach to the character is more cocky and presumptuous, rather than calculating and manipulative.
Dave Bautista as henchman Hinx gives Spectre its muscle and best action highlights. His introduction to the tale is strong and impressionable, and pretty gruesome, too. Although he's sparingly used, he pops up at impressive points. The chase scene around Rome is fast and ferocious with light humour sprinkled for decoration. Another chase scene through the snow covered mountains of Austria — which sees Bond sit behind the controls of a small plane — is beautifully executed and feels vintage Bond. But Bautista's best moment comes during a romantic moment between Bond and Swann as they sit down to enjoy a meal on a train. Hinx crashes their loved filled gazes and we're treated an energetic and physical fight scene, which ends with Hinx saying his only word before making his dramatic exit.
Not perfect, but rewarding
Narratively their are a few minor hiccups that squarely lay at the feet of the script's pacing. It's guilty of trying to fit too much in when less is sometimes more, and better. Performance-wise, Spectre is fairly strong. Craig is once again at home with Bond and Fiennes is perfectly on point as M. During Skyfall, I was unsure if Whishaw was right as Q, but here he has reassured me that he's a solid choice. Barring Scott, the rest of the supporting cast give as good as they get.
No question the action of Spectre is spectacular and expertly shot by Hoyt Van Hoytema (Interstellar, Her), who manages to make Spectre arguably the most beautiful Bond movie of all-time. We were promised something big with Spectre, and in a way, we get it. The movie is solid with only a mere few uneven and unsatisfying moments. Skyfall gave me answers to the future of the Bond franchise; I knew it was heading in a good direction. Although Spectre isn't perfect, it certainly rewards its fan base by continuing the trend of this new look Bond franchise.
