Evening everyone.. Now that I've slept on my initial viewing of SPECTRE and have given it A LOT of thought, I humbly present to you my review of the 24th James Bond film...which I do plan on seeing at least 2 more times before it ends its theatrical run. Before I get to it, I will say that I went to the 10:30 am, first showing, at my local theater, figuring that all the kids would still be in school and adults at work (I had the day off myself).WRONG! It was packed with at least 100 other people, all eager to see SPECTRE and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, all laughing at the appropriate moments, gasping in horror at the appropriate moments and in between. Right.. if you're ready then..
*Cues the James Bond theme and gunbarrel as The Dove approaches the podium*
Ladies and Gentlemen, if I might have your attention for a few minutes…*gets up on podium*
Right… how to begin…well, quite simply I’ll say…BOND…IS… BACK!!! SPECTRE is truly an awesome film that fulfilled all my expectations. Yes, we all knew going into this that it would be virtually impossible for Sam Mendes and Co. to duplicate the exact success that they achieved with Skyfall and while I feel that SPECTRE doesn’t quite do so, it is as damn close as you could hope for from a following to a hugely well received movie. This being said, I am absolutely disgusted with some of the downright insultingly negative reviews that some of the press have been issuing. Clearly, SPECTRE is a film that went right over a lot people’s heads..they just don’t get it. But then again, Bond films are made for Bond fans to enjoy…not critics. Ahh well..as Bond said in Thunderball, “ Well..you can’t win them all!”
Right to the film itself and all the various elements that we Bond fans like to critique..
Gunbarrel / Opening titles and title song: Yes, like the majority of Bond fans, I too was VERY pleased to see the film open up with the gunbarrel back where it belongs and was even more enthralled to see that Daniel Kleinman go back to the Maurice Binder style of barrel.. I also love the twist with the barrel fading out to black and the words, “THE DEAD….ARE ALIVE”. As for the title sequence it self.. WOW! Something totally different and fresh looking I think from Mr. Kleinman and the octopus motif just worked so well in terms of story theme. And Sam Smith’s “Writings On The Wall” fits beautifully with the title sequence and I’ve actually grown quite fond of the tune since it was initially released.
Thomas Newman’s Soundtrack: Ok, I get why so many people are frustrated that he recycles a lot of his Skyfall score in many of the tracks. To be honest, I too was hoping he’d create something totally fresh and original for his second go around. Actually my CD copy of the soundtrack will be arriving this week in the mail so then I’ll be able to have a proper listen to everything and perhaps re-evaluate. On the whole though, it is what it is and it is good and fits well with the film.. But I think that after a two film absence, I’m quite ready for David Arnold to come back for Bond 25 and bring more of the Bond theme elements to it.
The Cast: Starting with 007 himself, Daniel Craig…Man, he really OWNS the roll now. He looks as comfortable as he has ever been playing James Bond and by NO means is he ready for retirement. He even said on the Charlie Rose talk show that SPECTRE was the most fun he’s had playing James Bond. To my mind, he is by no means ready for the scrap heap and can easily come back for one more turn in the tux.
The MI6 Brigade: If I didn’t already love Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris before from their roles in Skyfall, that feeling just increased 10-fold for me with SPECTRE. The showdowns between M and Max Denbigh were great.. At this point you feel that Mallory has got to the point where Judi Dench’s M implicitly trusts Bond, and all doubts have been thrown out. Man, the Bond and Q moments were BRILLIANT! So much more humor and banter between the two..brought back nice memories of Desmond Llewellyn and Roger Moore’s banter, but on a whole new level. As for Naomie Harris’s Moneypenny, I love the fact that while she has become more of the traditional Moneypenny, you get the feeling that she can still be quite deadly with a weapon in her hands if need be.. and good ol’ Rory Kinnear’s Tanner. No doubt that he and Mr. Craig ‘s 007 are good pals to enjoy a few pints at the local pub.
The Villains: Perhaps a bit underused, but no more underused than say Javier Bardem was in Skyfall, you couldn’t have picked a more perfect actor in Christoph Waltz to play Ernst Stavro Blofeld. I wasn’t bothered by the big “reveal” and the nature of the character and there were no groans from my fellow audience members, so that went swimmingly well. As for Dave Bautista’s Hinx, BRUTAL!! I was hoping that he would have had at least a couple of menacing lines of dialogue, but hey, his physical presence was MORE than enough. And Andrew Scott as Max Denbigh (aka. C)…yep, he is a “cocky, little bastard” isn’t he? I can see why fans of Sherlock think he’s a great Moriarty.. I may have to actually start watching that now..
The Bond Women: Two lovely ladies with two different paths.. Yes, Miss Monica Bellucci’s presence in the film was all too brief but at least she wasn’t killed off like Severine in Skyfall. Hopefully Felix Leiter and the CIA gang have kept her in good sanctuary so that she may re-appear at some point..*fingers crossed* . I did also really enjoy Lea Seydoux very much, but as others have pointed out the romantic chemistry between her and Bond doesn’t really click..oh well.. She is gorgeous, nonetheless!!
Just a few of my Favorite Moments (SPOILERS):
- Bond glancing at his DB5 being rebuilt by Q branch and Q remarking that the only thing that came back in one piece was the steering wheel…and then Q cracking up!
- Bond stealing the DB10, meant for 009 and leaving the bottle of champagne in its place!!
- Bond trying to order a vodka martini at the health clinic, only to be told they don’t serve alcohol and then telling the barman to pour the ghastly looking health drink down the toilet.
- The Roger Moore-esque moment with Bond honking the horn and trying to get past the little blue Fiat during the Rome chase.
- The use of shadows in the SPECTRE boardroom meeting and moments of silence when Blofeld was in the room. Absolutely perfect!
- The DB10 being out of ammunition and playing 009’s Frank Sinatra CD!!
- Bond’s reaction to the Vesper Lynd Interrogation VHS tape, found in Mr. White’s secret room. By chance I just watched Casino Royale the night before going to SPECTRE and it really hit home, emotion-wise for 007. He still hasn’t quite gotten over the heartbreak.
- Loved the fact that the hotel elevator where Bond and Estrella go up to their room in the hotel is the same one that Bond and Pam use when they go to meet Bond’s “uncle” in Licence to Kill, 26 years previously. Filming did take place at the same hotel!
- M and Q playing out the scene where Q pretends that Bond is in Chelsea, rather than Austria and M telling Q he’ll be in deep s**t…
- The name of the safe house, Hildebrand: Antique Books and RARITIES, where Bond and the Gang get together before heading out to arrest C and Blofeld. I’m sure I’ll remember more once I go and see it again this coming week.
Nitpicks: Blofeld being arrested at the end of the film, just seemed flimsy, as others have pointed out. Sure the filmmakers didn’t want him killed off, in the event they want to bring him back for Bond 25, having him escape the helicopter crash would have been a much better way to have that scene end. Perhaps I’ll get it with more viewings.
- Bond and Madeline’s relationship…yeah, as others have stated, I’m not really feeling it either. But I’m sure it is something that is not meant to be as powerful as Bond and Vesper’s relationship and by having Bond and Madeline drive off together at the end of the movie is no different than any of the other women he ends up snogging at the end of the movies and then we never see them again.. Meh..
The Future:
In short, it looks very bright indeed for James Bond.. EON have done a remarkable job with this film and while I do think Mr. Craig will be back for one more film, the future for Sam Mendes is not quite so clear. But we’ll see.. In the meantime, let’s all have a bit of a breather and enjoy the film for soon enough it’ll be time to start up the engine that is the process of pre-production excitement for Bond 25. Cheers everyone!! *ends speech and gets off podium*
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 martinis
