SPECTRE Review

6 out of 10

SPECTRE Cast

Daniel Craig as James Bond

Christoph Waltz as Oberhauser

Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann

Ralph Fiennes as M

Monica Bellucci as Lucia

Ben Whishaw as Q

Naomie Harris as Moneypenny

Dave Bautista as Hinx

Andrew Scott as C

Rory Kinnear as Tanner

Jesper Christensen as Mr. White

Alessandro Cremona as Marco Sciarra

Stephanie Sigman as Estrella

Directed by Sam Mendes

Summary:

While Daniel Craig is awesome, Dave Bautista is brutal, and Léa Seydoux is intriguing, the previous Daniel Craig James Bond films were better than SPECTRE.

Story:

After receiving a previously-recorded message from the recently-deceased M, James Bond goes on the hunt for a mysterious assassin. His former boss directs 007 to find Marco Sciarra and kill him, no questions asked. Since he is still loyal to her, he does as she requests.

Little does Bond know, but Sciarra is connected to SPECTRE, a secret organization that has been quietly manipulating the world powers for years. And unknown to Bond, they have crossed paths with him many times in the past. As Bond dives headlong into conflict with them, he finds he has no idea how widespread their powers are.

Complicating matters is the fact that MI6 is being rolled into the newly-formed Centre of National Security headed by Max Denbigh. Viewed as a troublemaker and rogue agent, Denbigh suspends Bond. But as Bond continues to pursue the powers behind SPECTRE, he finds he may not be able to count on his friends to bail him out of trouble.

SPECTRE is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, sensuality and language.

What Worked:

SPECTRE has all the elements that you’ve come to expect from a James Bond film – exotic locations, cool cars, evil villains, and beautiful women. The story begins with a promising start in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead. There are cool costumes, pulse-pounding music, and of course the first of the lovely Bond women played by Stephanie Sigman. We are treated to a beautifully-shot scene that follows Bond and Estrella through the crowd, into a hotel, through a room, and onto a roof where Bond finds himself thrown into the middle of a battle with terrorists, all in a continuous single take. It’s an impressive feat. And Bond fans will be impressed with a tip of the hat to the Roger Moore films in the opening minutes.

Later in the film, we see an impressive car chase through Rome, beautiful shots of Tangiers, the lovely Monica Bellucci as Lucia, and other things you’d come to expect from a James Bond film. But there’s one thing in SPECTRE that has been missing from previous Daniel Craig Bond films – humor. We see Bond comically landing on a couch after falling several stories through a building. We see Bond cringe at a health bar serving him vegetable juice. We see him comically fumble with secret gadgets in a car as he is chased through Rome. As stoic as the previous three films were, I had forgotten how much fun James Bond could be as well. While there is humor, it doesn’t overpower the film. I think they struck the right balance.

The returning cast is a lot of fun. Daniel Craig remains an excellent and unique James Bond. Ralph Fiennes as M gets a bit more screentime as well as some action this round. Naomie Harris as Moneypenny continues to be fleshed out as a great character. But Ben Whishaw stands out as Q. He provides a lot of the aforementioned comic relief.

As for the new cast, Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann makes an excellent Bond girl. She has the unique distinction of being the daughter of one of the previous Bond villains and that gives an interesting spin to her character. Madeleine knows all of Bond’s tricks and she won’t fall for any of them….at least for a while. She’s a lethal yet feminine character and that makes her intriguing for the audience. Dave Bautista also joins the Bond universe as Hinx, a powerhouse of an assassin. A fight he has with Bond on a train is one of the most brutal battles we’ve ever seen Bond face. It’s a knock down drag out fight and you start to think that Bond is about to meet his end. What Bautista lacks in dialogue, he makes up for in menace. I would have loved to see more of him in this film.

What Didn’t Work:

While this is a perfectly serviceable James Bond movie with all of the boxes checked on what you would expect, overall it does not stand up against the other Daniel Craig Bond movies. While SPECTRE has cool action, the action in Casino Royale was much better. While Madeleine Swann is a great Bond girl, Eva Green as Vesper Lynd was better. Sam Smith’s “Writing’s On The Wall” is OK, but Adele’s “Skyfall” is far superior. From top to bottom it just lacks something to take it to the next level. With so many spy movies out there, it needed something more to set it apart.

Matters aren’t helped by a weak story. While the idea of a villainous organization like SPECTRE is fantastic, its full potential is not realized. We don’t really see them doing anything exceptionally evil other than have secret meetings, snoop on people, and share rings with DNA on them (don’t ask). Christoph Waltz is a fantastic actor, but as Oberhauser he’s not particularly intimidating. He’s just vaguely creepy. When they do try and make him scary, they have to resort to gross out tactics more suitable for a “Saw” movie than a James Bond movie. If you hate the dentist, you’re going to really hate this.

Bond makes some really stupid decisions in this story. More than once he literally walks into the middle of the bad guy’s lair. It makes them less intimidating since he rather easily does it, but you also think he’s pretty stupid for doing it with no perceivable backup plan. And while I applaud the creators for trying to tie together all of the Daniel Craig films, the end result is a series of crazy coincidences with his character that I won’t spoil here. Suffice it to say you may be saying “I don’t buy that” when the secrets are revealed.

The Bottom Line:

Is SPECTRE worth checking out in theaters? I’d say yes since I’d always recommend seeing James Bond on the big screen. But among the Daniel Craig James Bond movies, it’s near the bottom of the list.