Why change what works? For the past three movies in the 007
franchise – all of which star Daniel Craig – tone has shifted and the
stereotypical approach to the James Bond film has been ignored. Instead,
directors like Martin Campbell of Casino
Royale and Sam Mendes of Skyfall have
helmed the mission to recreate Bond as a more human character and take a more
modern and realistic approach to the agent’s adventures. Now comes Spectre, a movie that capitalizes on the
efforts of character building demonstrated in its immediate predecessors but
also returns the franchise to its glory of the formulaic James Bond film.
Kicking off with the most insane and intense Bond opener
since Casino Royale, Spectre wastes no time assuring
moviegoers they’re spending their time and money wisely. The opening scene
starts with a long shot through the streets and buildings of Mexico City’s Day
of the Dead parade before cutting to a chain of events involving an
assassination, an exploding building, and a man-vs-man fight scene on a
low-flying helicopter. Cue the Sam Smith song and seductive opening credits
montage.
Bond’s reasoning for
this altercation is explained through a video from the recently deceased M
(Judi Dench). The video shows M’s dying wish being for James to hunt down and
kill the man from Mexico, which Bond does without question – only to discover
the man played a role in a much larger scheme. Upon discovering the villainous
organization Spectre, Bond unwittingly opens a door to his traumatic past when he
finds out the ghosts of his past are still alive to haunt him. He’s forced to
confront Ernst Blofeld (Christoph Waltz, in a limited but chilling role), his
former brother in practice who has been orchestrating all the catastrophic
events of his past. But of course, we need a Bond girl before we go any
further. In Spectre, it’s Léa Seydoux. Following a brief but cold-hearted appearance in 2011’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation,
Seydoux is paving her way to becoming a mainstream femme fatale that most male
actors will surely be intimidated to go toe-to-toe with on the big screen.
The movie doesn’t
make any efforts to redefine the franchise, something that understandably
disappointed some critics and audiences. However, just because it didn’t take
any noteworthy risks doesn’t make the film a failure. Spectre is an extremely fun, sleek, and entertaining crack at the
Bond filmography. It takes the quality of filmmaking we’ve seen starting with
Daniel Craig’s entrance into the series and perfectly capitalizes on the
formulaic Bond structure audiences love. It’s got a kickass opening, crazy car
chases, gripping hand-to-hand combat scenes, Bond bedding women, and a joyful
abundance of bullets. With a hefty runtime of over two hours, the brisk editing
and marvelous pacing kept things captivating until the last minute – by the end
of the movie, I was wishing for more.
Some would argue
that the film is riddled with Bond clichés. I disagree. I see Spectre as following an established
structure that has brought the pre-Craig era Bond films continued success. Spectre follows this structure and
heightens all of its elements to never before seen places. It may not be the
best movie featuring James Bond in terms of pure filmmaking, but it’s arguably
the best “James Bond film” in recent memore because it delivers comparative
perfection within the structure. In that regard, Spectre is better than Skyfall,
and I’d name it best movie of the year so far if it weren’t for a criminally
underused Christoph Waltz and a bit-too-ridiculous plane crash that leaves Bond
unbelievably unscathed. It also should be noted that just a few hours after
leaving the theater the excitement I felt while watching the movie didn’t carry
into my day the way I was expecting it would. But in the words of Roger Ebert,
“there's something to be said for a movie you like well enough at the time.”
Well, I think there’s even more to be said for a movie you loved at the time –
and I loved Spectre.
Rating: 4.5/5
