Well, let me just say that I have no idea why SPECTRE's RT and MetaCritic score are so low. From what I've read, it appears that most critics are lambasting this flick because of its cheekiness and gags. Clearly, those dorkwads have been spoiled by all the grit of CR and QOS. Um, newsflash you dear critics: this is not the Bourne franchise, this is the Bond franchise. Personally, I loved SPECTRE. Hell, even SF was starting to show some welcome return to whimsy and cheeze.
However, I did have my reservations about SPECTRE when I heard the rumors about a certain, um, familial connection twist being unveiled in the third act. But when it was executed onscreen, I somehow, well... if not outright buying it, at least tolerating it. Yes, it was cheesy. But this is the Bond franchise, after all. Embrace it.
So, let's get down to the business of the GREAT, GOOD, and NOT-SO-GOOD of SPECTRE. Beware: SPOILERS abound.
THE GREAT:
- Wonderful opening scene with Bond and his latest chick-of-the-moment in Mexico City dressed in WALKING DEAD gear. Do they really celebrate Halloween like that South of the Border? I need to get my a$$ down there, ASAP. Watching Jimbo and Estrella walk slowly and langurously through the crowd, in step with that percussive beat on the soundtrack, was so sexy and surreal and hypnotic. Awesome scene. Ditto the Helicopter battle.
- The cinematography. The hazy golden glow that Hoyte Van Hoytema gave this film made SPECTRE a bit surreal and dreamlike in parts. Especially the whole North Africa sequence.
- Bond telling Madeline to look only at him when the video of her father about to kill himself is playing. LOVED THAT.
- The lyrical tracking shot of Lucia walking through her darkened Villa after the funeral, drinking and trembling, as a sinister mood builds as the body guards in the background raise their guns at her - only to be shot dead. And the pan to the right of Lucia to reveal Bond standing there.
LOVED THAT.
THE GOOD:
- Good performances from everyone all around - and Craig is much looser and funnier here.
- Nice to see Ralph Fiennes settling into his M skin.
- Nice to see Tanner, Q, and Eve M. pitching in. Not sure why critics were bitching about Moneypenny's lack of involvement. She seemed plenty involved. And let's not forget that she is now Moneypenny - not a Bond Girl. If she were any more involved she'd be a Bond Girl.
- Loved Lea Seydoux and her relationship with Jimmy. Lots of flak on how their romance isn't strong and how inexplicable it is that Bond walks towards her in the end on the bridge. Well, maybe if another actress had played Madeline, I would be flummoxed too. But Lea brought a child-like vulnerablility to the role which strengthened the concept that she needed protection from Bond. Plus, he promised White he'd protect his daughter. I think Bond chose to go to her at the end, because he knew she still needed to be protected and he needed to continue to make good on his promise. After all, looked what happened when she tried to walk away on her own: she got kidnapped by Blofeld.
I don't view Madeline as useless or a step back in Bond Girl portrayal. I just view her as a "real" girl like Kara Milovy and Tatiana Romanova and Natalya Simonova. These are chicks who are ordinary but step up and survive and do their best. Critics seem to think that if a woman in a Bond flick isn't kicking ass, she's weak. Please grow up. A woman doesn;t have to be Wai Lin or Jinx to be considered strong. I'd rather have a Madeline Swann over a Jinx Johnson or Wai Lin any day.
- Good setpieces. Loved the Rome car chase and the Alpine chase with the plane and the SUVs.
- More humor. This is what a Bond film should feel like. CASINO ROYALE remains one of my faves, but we can't have CR's serious tone all the time. And I don't know what the critics are on about: SPECTRE did have some elements of seriousness.
- Liked the fact that this film honors the previous three and builds a universe. Liked the callbacks to everyone important in the first three flicks: Vesper, Silva, M, Greene, and LeChiffre.
- Liked the opening credits that showed images and characters from the first 3 flicks.
- Nice sense of mystery as Bond tries uncover the links to SPECTRE.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD
- Sam Smith's voice and that song. There are some instrumental passages in the song that are catchy. But every time Smith opens his mouth and builds to a dying hyena screech, I just cringed. Actually detracted from the good opening credits. Couldn't they have gotten a manlier Chris Cornell-type to have sung this song? As a friend of mine said the first time he heard Smith singing that "song": "If they really wanted a woman to sing that song, couldn't they have gotten, you know, a real woman?" Or as another friend said during the actual opening credits: "Shut up, you poof." Sorry, just being honest.
WHERE SPECTRE FITS IN THE CRAIG CANON:
CASINO ROYALE (****1/2 out of *****)
QUANTUM OF SOLACE (**** out of *****)
SPECTRE (**** out of *****)
SKYFALL (***1/2 out of *****)
That's all.
Edited by Kristian, 08 November 2015 - 11:42 PM.
