Turning Back the Clock: A Review of Spectre

directed by Sam Mendes
written by John Logan, Robert Wade, Neil Purvis and Jez Butterworth

After three movies in which Daniel Craig channeled Jason Bourne when playing cinematic superspy James Bond, in Spectre, the latest (reportedly Craig's last) outing, he trades in the brass-knuckle brutality of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and even Skyfall for a decidedly more traditional take on the character.

Following the events of Skyfall, Bond tracks down an Italian assassin to Mexico City, where he prevents a mass murder but causes an international incident in the process. This, however, is only the beginning, as the assassin, as Bond soon discovers after observing his funeral and meeting his widow (Monica Bellucci), is part of a much larger and more sinister organization than Bond could have ever imagined, one that has direct links to the villains he has faced since the very beginning of his career. As Bond investigates, he eavesdrops on a meeting presided over by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a man with direct ties to Bond's past. In the meantime, MI6, which was physically destroyed in Skyfall, now faces complete annihilation with the arrival of C (Andrew Scott), a bureaucrat determined to replace the 00 program with electronic surveillance and drones, much to the irritation of M (Ralph Fiennes). These threats converge quite swiftly, and Bond soon learns from an old adversary of his, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) the foe he faces is bigger than he could imagine, especially after they sic a larger-than-life henchman, Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) on him. It will take all of Bond's skill, with a helping hand from M, Q (Ben Winshaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and even Mr. White's daughter, Dr.Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), to defeat Spectre, but will it be enough?

There are a couple of things clear from this particular film, probably the foremost being director Sam Mendes' fondness for the franchise and in particular the kitsch that characterized the earliest films. I suppose one could say he's earned the right to take the franchise in whatever direction he sees fit; whether or not one loved or hated Skyfall (and I happened to like it quite a bit) it was, hands down, the most globally successful James Bond movie ever. Also, the gritty approach doesn't always work out for the best, as the creative misstep Quantum of Solace showed. The thing is, I'm not sure "retro" was the way to go, especially since this appears to be Craig's swansong to the franchise.

The old Bond touches abound, like the tricked out Omega watch, the Aston Martin with an ejector seat and the indestructible henchman, to name a few. I was a little disappointed with the much-hyped Aston Martin vs. Jaguar duel; it lacked the intensity that a really good car chase should have. The thing is, considering that there was quite a bit of humor involved in the sequence I get the impression that it wasn't really played so much for thrills as it was for laughs. Maybe they had a deal with Aston Martin to show Bond's car drifting in slow motion so that audiences (and potential AM buyers) could get a good look at the product, even though the DB10 depicted here will never be sold in stores.

The good news, though, is that there are still generous helpings of well-executed action elsewhere in the film, like the incredible opening action sequence in Mexico City which was ushered in by one of the most extraordinary single, uncut shots I've seen in recent years as well as some pretty intense fighting sequences in Austria and on-board a train trundling across Africa. While James Bond films, especially the more recent ones, are cultural events of a sort, Mendes remembers that this is still, first and foremost, an action film, and in that respect, Spectre delivers.

The thing that disappoints a bit, though is that Bond films have, since Craig came on board, tended to be smarter than this, and this film feels like a bit of a step back, though I did appreciate the elegant Monica Bellucci in her glorified cameo, and even Seydoux as the feisty, sexy Swann. Fiennes, Winshaw and Harris all play their supporting roles quite well, and get their own action sequence, something unheard of in the Connery days, but Scott disappoints as C, and even more shockingly, Waltz fails to bring Oberhauser to the level of Javier Bardem's batshit-crazy ex-spy Silva, due in no small part to some rather weak scripting.

For example, I loved Silva's opening soliloquy in the scene in which he was introduced in Skyfall, telling Bond an anecdote about rats eating coconut, and quite honestly, Oberhauser doesn't have anything like that; rather, he spouts some generic spiel about conquering the world through information technology, with parts of his shtick even lifted from Silva's technobabble from the last film. It was all right, but I honestly would have expected more from Waltz, whose work I have enjoyed, even when he was just lending his voice to a cartoon character in 2013's Epic.

This isn't the strongest of the Craig bonds, but if nothing else, at least it wasn't the hot narrative mess that Quantum of Solace fell into after that stellar pre-credits car chase. If this indeed proves to be Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond, it isn't the worst way he could have gone, but in my opinion he could have gone out so much better.



6.5/10