As the name suggests, this film hones in on Bond facing a modern take on a classic organisation of evil (which we first saw referenced way back in Dr.No). As the antagonistic side of the film seems to be harking back to classic Bond, so too I feel does Daniel Craig take the whole tone back to basics, and not only that but succeeds in embracing and embellishing the basics of what a good Bond film should be.
After all the fuss that was made of Craig as the new Bond and how he really shook up the franchise, and rightly so, here he seems to be treading through more familiar territory.
Casino Royale saw Craig and James Bond almost totally revamped and stripped down to raw essentials. Quantum of Solace saw Craig's transition from one-Bond wonder to consistent action hero begin and take shape. Skyfall went all out to mold the past and future of James Bond the man and the franchise together in one barn-storming adventure. And now, Spectre sees the relative calm after the Skyfall storm, but plants Daniel Craig's James Bond firmly where he should be, delivering pretty much all we expect from a Bond flick.
By and large, no Bond fan can have many complaints with this one. Sure it is not mind-blowing, life-altering cinema; but for a non-stop, action-packed, stylish, swaggering, thrill-seeking belter that puts a smile on your face in oh so true Bond style - look no further.
Like all Craig's Bond films, Spectre follows a loose narrative from the last outing, dealing with the aftermath of the fallen (but sill formidably fabulous) Judi Dench as M, the resplendent Ralph Fiennes as her replacement, and we even get a direct link to the awesome climax of Skyfall as a lead in to the new plot. What I loved though was that in the re-emergence of Spectre into this new 21st century Bond, and a new Blofeld in the form of the ever-brilliant Christoph Waltz we also get an apparent puppeteer-esque saga, throughout all of the last three big Bond villains, and thus the action-packed (and often for Bond painful) plot developments.
In actuality, this link, whilst powerful to see played out, is when you look at it closely quite tenuous, and in another's hands might have fallen flat. Thankfully, in an inspired bit of casting the delightfully talented Christoph Waltz steps into the shoes of Ernest Stavro Blofeld to utterly superb effect. Waltz brings his uncanny ability of being supremely horrible and wonderfully charming simultaneously to this iconic Bond character to perfection - he was a joy to watch and very nearly stole the show in every scene he was in.
Playing off him and fighting against him of course, we have Bond himself in the form of Daniel Craig. There can by now be no real doubt - James Bond is a role Craig was made for and by and large he delivers again in Spectre. Still rough around the edges, still has that broken edge to him and still delivers on all the action. Yet there were a couple of moments, where we saw his Bond fall into the more conventional moments of plot that we have come to expect from Bond films (such as romancing the women, ordering the vodka martini or using the gadgets) that I detected a hint of the dejected. I am not for one moment saying he seems tired in the role, far from it. It is an odd thing to find and to say, yet it just seemed that in certain shots and small sequences, Craig's Bond just faded into the backdrop somewhat a tad too much. Nevertheless, Craig is more than capable of taking the lead in a Bond film, and indeed with regards to the whole franchise, and I for one think he has one or two more in him yet.
Other casting high notes included the return of the superb of Ben Whishaw as the new Q, and likewise the delicious Naomi Harris as Moneypenny. Rory Kinnear as Tanner is always nice to see too in the MI6 lineup.
It was actually Spectre's own Bond women that had me most dissapointed actually. Monica Belluci's age and Bond woman status was made a meal of in the press pre-release, and whilst I do not think this is an issue at all I do feel that, despite her relatively short period of screen time, she did not do nearly enough to stay in our minds. Yes she had style and sex appeal but relatively little substance, and in the end I was sad to see her as quite a minor plot device.
Bond's main love interest is Dr. Madeline Swann, played by Léa Seydoux. Again she has the charisma, the beauty and the sex appeal but she does not have much in the way of character for me. Yes her performance is just enough to see her through to the end of the film, but I thought in terms of being a memorable match for Bond, she doesn't fair too well by journey's end.
Regardless, I always rejoice when a new Bond film is released, and Spectre holds no exception. You really have to look hard to find fault and, despite there being a few foibles I did really enjoy Spectre and I feel it still does justice to the legacy of 007.
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