I thought that Skyfall was one of the best Bond movies of the past fifty years, so I was eagerly looking forward to the latest instalment in this long running franchise. After all, Skyfall director Sam Mendes was back at the helm. But Spectre was a little disappointing. At 148 minutes, it is over long and there are a few spots where the pace flags. However, there are a couple of spectacular action sequences, including a bruising fight on a train that is the most destructive since Emperor of the North, which starred Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin, which are well staged by Mendes. Mendes certainly has a strong physical approach to the action sequences.
As is often the case, the main henchman is more memorable – think of the likes of Oddjob or Jaws – and here we get former wrestler Dave Bautista as a muscle bound and silent hitman known as Hinx.
The opening pre-credits sequence is one of the best moments of the film and is quite spectacular and gets the film off to a great and exciting start. Set in Mexico City during the annual Day Of The Dead festivities, we see Bond carrying out an assignment from the previous M (Judi Dench) before her death, which results in a city block being destroyed in a massive explosion, and Bond being reprimanded by the new M (Ralph Fiennes) and suspended from duty. This is a brave new world for MI5 with a new intelligence body being set up in collaboration with security forces from other allied countries, with the aim of controlling the flow of information. This new organisation all falls under the stewardship of the ambitious and unctuous C (Andrew Scott), who also wants to phase out the 00 program. He believes that these government assassins like Bond are obsolete in a world that relies heavily on technology than brute force.
On his own and without official support, Bond investigates a number of leads that eventually brings him to the secret underground organisation Spectre, its enigmatic head Blofeld, and its ties to C.
Léa Seydoux (The Lobster) joins the long line of sultry European beauties who have played Bond girls and she brings a feisty mix of intelligence and beauty to her role as Madeleine Swann, the daughter of one of Bond’s former enemies in Mr White (Jesper Christensen). And I quite like Ben Whishaw, who brings a suitably nerdy quality to his role as Q. He gets a bigger role to play in the action this time out as well.
The action moves between a number of great exotic locations, from Mexico City to London, Rome, the snow bound slopes of Austria and on to the harsh deserts of Tangiers and Morocco. There is a mountain top base that will remind fans of Blofeld’s lair in On her Majesty’s Secret Service. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar) replaces the great Roger Deakins here and his visuals are a bit darker, which suits the tone of the material.
This is Craig’s fourth outing as Bond, and he brings a more dangerous edge to his performance as the debonair spy. Craig’s Bond has also been more conflicted with his role as government assassin, and his approach to the role also lacks those one liners and throwaway gags that characterised the Connery and Moore years in particular. The Craig Bonds have been reestablishing the whole mythology of this iconic screen hero, and here Bond has to face some of his past demons as he learns that Blofeld has been the author of his pain and responsible for the deaths of so many people in his life.
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Lea Seydoux
Release Date: 12 November 2015
Rating: M
Greg King
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television