2015 | Dir. Sam Mendes | 148 Minutes
"You're a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond."
James Bond follows up on a lead left behind by the late M and discovers a sinister secret organization. In order to locate and confront the evil mastermind, Bond must protect the daughter of a past enemy. Meanwhile, the future of MI6 is threatened by the arrogant head of the Joint Intelligence Service.
Directly following Skyfall, Sam Mendes' Spectre is a decidedly less daring, less engaging picture by comparison. Constructing a cohesive continuity within Daniel Craig's James Bond films is an intriguing idea but the culmination of the ongoing story in Spectre leaves much to be desired. The return of the ultimate Bond nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld is disappointingly mishandled as the screenwriters predictably cast Blofeld in the role of puppet master behind the primary antagonists from the last three films while needlessly giving him a personal motivation for specifically targeting Bond that borders on nonsensical. The side plot that once again questions MI6's place in the modern world would have been interesting, if somewhat redundant, had it not been completely undercut by the fact the dissenting voice this time around is SPECTRE in disguise.
Visually, Spectre is a dark and flat picture. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema makes the stylistic choice to frame the picture dead center on the subject for the majority of his shots, burning out all sense of drama from any given scene. The secret meeting in Rome is a prime example, quickly coming across as more of an eye-straining slog than a tense and unpredictable sequence.
With the exception of the excellent cold open set in Mexico City, the action scenes are fine if somewhat standard. Highlights include a nighttime car chase in Rome with a few comedic flourishes that would have been fitting in the Roger Moore era, an elaborate destructive pursuit sequence in the Austrian Alps, and an intense brawl between Bond and gigantic strongman Mr. Hinx onboard a train. The climatic action sequence in the bombed out remains of the former MI6 headquarters is disappointingly rote and uninspired, amounting to Bond being presented with an impossible choice that quickly proves to be far from impossible.
Daniel Craig confidently takes on the role of James Bond for the fourth time and he remains consistently great in the part even if the writing is noticeably weak for this installment. As love interest Madeleine Swann, Léa Seydoux is convincingly headstrong and subtly vulnerable, exhibiting a deep-seated world-weariness that is difficult to quantify. Craig and Seydoux are excellent performers but they share very little on screen chemistry and the romance at the core of the picture simply doesn't work. Though the script doesn't do him any favors, casting Christoph Waltz in the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld is an inspired choice and he makes the most of the hand he was dealt, demonstrating a believably menacing intelligence in spite of the absurdity of the material. The film also features Dave Bautista delivering a fun performance as the skillful sadistic brute Mr. Hinx, Andrew Scott appropriately irritating as Joint Intelligence Service head Max Denbigh, and Monica Bellucci as the tormented widow of a SPECTRE operative. Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, and Rory Kinnear return as M, Moneypenny, Q, and Bill Tanner, each with a bit more to do than in Skyfall, while Jesper Christensen delivers a brief but harrowing performance reprising the role of Mr. White. A welcome sight, Judi Dench also makes a cameo appearance as the former M.
While it is ostensibly a competently constructed action film, Spectre falls well below the high standard set by Skyfall. The picture ties together all of Daniel Craig's James Bond films a little too neatly, not quite cleverly, and the major plot revelations it offers fall completely flat. It isn't necessarily one of the worst Bond pictures but frustratingly it could have been a much better installment considering how it has all the right pieces.
THE COLD OPEN
The elaborate Mexico City Day of the Dead action sequence is truly excellent, really one of the best cold open sequences of the entire franchise. The helicopter stunt is a real show stopper. It's a gripping, well-paced action sequence that the rest of the picture fails to match.
THE THEME SONG AND OPENING TITLES
Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" is overproduced and somewhat dull, a weepy dirge of a tune. Though it is arguably one of the weaker James Bond theme songs, it is the second song from the series to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. However, Daniel Kleinman's opening title sequence is another winner, prominently featuring a foreboding octopus motif inspired by the SPECTRE insignia. The segment featuring a collage of eyes is chilling, while the segment with clips from past films is cheesy as hell.
THE BOND GIRL
Dr. Madeleine Swann is meant to be an ideal match for Bond, an intelligent and capable somewhat prickly woman who is no stranger to the violent world of her father Mr. White. Though she demonstrates that she can handle a gun and she saves Bond from certain death on more than one occasion, she is still relegated to the role of damsel in distress when she is first introduced and during the final act. Dr. Swann is last seen riding off with Bond in his Aston Martin at the end of the picture, Bond having chosen her over revenge and continued employment with MI6, but nothing suggests their relationship will last any longer than Bond's previous romances.
THE BOND VILLAIN
Reintroducing Blofeld as Bond's adoptive brother Franz Oberhauser, and tying his villainous origin to Bond childhood is an unfortunate mistake. This new Blofeld is motivated simply by murderous jealousy, committing patricide and taking on his mother's name simply because his father took a liking to Bond. While he has the trademark white Persian, the proclivity to place Bond in an impractical death trap only to have him escape, and even the disfiguring facial scar by the final act of the film, Blofeld's forced connection to Bond makes him far less intriguing than previous incarnations of the quintessential Bond villain.
FEATURED HENCHMAN
The massive taciturn Mr. Hinx is cut from the same mold as Oddjob and Jaws, a sadistic killer with a quirky gimmick - a set of metal thumb nails he uses to gouge out the eyes of a rival when he is first introduced. Hinx encounters Bond three times in the film, presented as a nigh indestructible opponent. Despite speaking only once - he curses just as he is dragged by the neck by a half dozen kegs out of the cargo door of a speeding train, he exudes a surprising amount of personality.
BEST GADGET
The exploding wristwatch is classic Bond movie trope put to excellent use in stopping another time-honored Bond movie trope: the impractical death trap.
FLEMING FIDELITY
The secret organization SPECTRE and its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld were first introduced in Ian Fleming's eighth James Bond novel Thunderball first published in 1961. Hannes Oberhauser was introduced as Bond's childhood skiing instructor and father figure in Fleming's short story Octopussy first published in 1966.
MCCLORY'S SPECTRE
Written to be the first Bond film, author Ian Fleming collaborated with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham on the initial screenplay for Thunderball. Losing faith in McClory's cinematic vision for Bond, Fleming repurposed the story and used it for his eighth Bond novel published in 1961. McClory and Whittingham sued Fleming, and the case was settled out of court resulting in McClory gaining the literary and film rights for the screenplay. McClory is credited as a producer for Thunderball and eventually produced the awful 1983 Taliafilm remake Never Say Never Again featuring a spiteful Sean Connery as Bond. In 2013, MGM formally acquired the complete film rights for the concept of SPECTRE from the McClory estate as well as all of the characters associated with the organization, paving the way for Spectre to reincorporate the evil organization and Bond's arch-nemesis Blofeld into Eon Productions' James Bond film franchise.
FRAGMENTS
- Gary Oldman was approached for the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld
- Christoph Waltz and Léa Seydoux previously appeared together in Inglourious Basterds
- Bond, Moneypenny, Tanner, and M meet in London at a safe house disguised as the business "Hildebrand Prints & Rarities", an homage to the Ian Fleming's short story The Hildebrand Rarity first published in Playboy magazine in March 1960
- At the bottom of the end credits, the film advertises that "James Bond Will Return"
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Dave Bautista (Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)
