SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: SPECTRE

With a few exceptions I have always been more of a passive fan when it comes to secret agent JAMES BOND. I wait for the Bond films to come to me instead of actively seeking them out and watching them over and over like I do with some other franchises. Basically this is me saying that I like Bond films but I am by no means an expert. I have seen the last 5 Bond films in theaters and hope to keep that tradition going for as long as I am able and as long as they keep being made. That being said, I enjoyed SPECTRE quite a bit but it wasn't as good as I was hoping.

SPECTRE is the 24th official Bond film to hit theaters and the 4th film in the Daniel Craig reboot series. Craig is now tied with Pierce Brosnan for number of films in the franchise. Director Sam Mendes returns from the last film, SKYFALL (an unprecedented success and top box office earner for the entire franchise), and everyone is hoping he and Craig can outdo themselves this time around, but sadly it doesn't look like they will. One of the reasons I am a passive fan of the franchise is that, personally, I feel the Bond films haven't really "gone for the throat" so to speak. They have always been fun films but never great films (this coming from the guy who watches Friday the 13th Part V and Godzilla VS Megalon over and over again).

With CASINO ROYALE I was finally blown away with a Bond film. I really enjoyed Casino Royale, so much so that I had considered going in for one of those mega box sets with every Bond film inside. QUANTUM OF SOLACE lost a little of that momentum for me. It felt more like the final act of Casino Royale rather than its own movie. But then Skyfall comes out and I'm right back where I was after Casino Royale. It now appears to be the trend that every odd numbered Bond film (at least with Daniel Craig's entries) are incredible and every even numbered Bond film is simply fine (put "fine" in front of dining or wine and you've really got something!).

THE PLOT (spoilers ((as if you didn't know)))

M (Judi Dench) has been killed. In her last moments she sends Bond a message: Look into a man named Sciarra. James goes off book on a secret mission unbeknownst to MI6 and locates Sciarra on his own terrorist mission in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebrations. Bond thwarts his terrorist plot but in doing so uncovers a deeper darker mystery. Meanwhile, the 00 (double "O") program and nearly all of MI6 is either being shut down or merging with a new multinational global intelligence agency.

M (Ralph Fiennes) doesn't trust the person in charge of the merger, a man called "C". Bond, continuing his secret investigation, discovers a group of criminal masterminds calling themselves S.P.E.C.T.R.E. What he finds is that this group has been directly responsible for everything that has gone wrong in his life and the man in charge of it all, Ernst Blofled, is calling Bond out, daring him to do something to stop them. Spectre's reach travels farther than Bond knows for they have a man inside MI6 who is about to connect them to every secret agency across the globe.

THE GOOD

The connectivity. If you've read my previous reviews you know that continuity is a big deal for me. I view it as a reward for having seen (or read or played depending on what we're talking about) all the previous films, books, or video games that have come before. If you've seen all the previous Daniel Craig Bond films the power of this movie is doubled. Everything, literally everything, that has happened to Bond in the previous three films is because of this group Spectre. There are countless little details referencing the previous movies, little stabs at James Bond's heart, all throughout the film. Now that James Bond is finally aware of Spectre the gravity of the film increases dramatically. It was so much fun sitting in the theater looking for these details.

The actors. Daniel Craig is still proving that he is one of the best Bonds in the franchise (although I sensed a little fatigue from the actor but not enough to hurt his performance). The regular players like M, Moneypenny, Q, and Tanner are given more to do in this film and every one of them rises to the occasion. Christoph Waltz takes on the villainous role of Ernst Blofeld (a role once played by one of my favorite actors, DONALD PLEASENCE), the legendary evil mastermind of the franchise. Waltz, ever since INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, seems to be typecast as villains in films, with a few exceptions of course. He does a fine job here but is overshadowed by another, smaller, bigger, villain. The standout villain in this movie is Dave Bautista as evil henchman Mr. Hinx. He and Bond have the most memorable action sequence in the film and he seems like a legitimate problem for Bond, more so than Blofeld.

Bond girls Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux

Oh yeah, Monica Bellucci makes a brief appearance as Sciarra's widow. The woman is 51 years old and still one of the most gorgeous women on the planet. She may be the oldest Bond Girl in the history of the franchise but "Wowza!" And, unbeknownst to myself, Judi Dench returns for one last appearance as M and it is always a pleasure to see her in the series. And I got to do a quick mention of the sound design for the film. I was all alone in the auditorium and the sound was amazing. And the opening sequence during the Day of the Dead festival was freaking sweet. All in all there is a lot of good in this film, which means the bad in it is all the more striking to counter all that good.

THE BAD

Simple resolutions. The setup in this movie is wonderful. The build up of Spectre and Blofeld is fantastic. But once Bond is off to stop the badguys everything seems to come to him and he seems to solve the problems with relative ease. Everything seems to fall in place in a predictable and unimaginative way. Again, the actors do a good job and everything is filmed well. But the climaxes aren't as engaging nor as exciting as Skyfall or Casino Royale. As a result the second half of the movie brings down the wonderful build up of the first half.

Spectre and Hydra one in the same?

More of the same. Between Skyfall in 2012 and Spectre we have seen many good spy movies come out. The one film which director Mendes should have looked at more closely, in my opinion, is CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER. Essentially the same movie as Spectre only far more effective (Hydra and Spectre even have the same emblem). By seemingly repeating what that film did and doing it less effectively is the major failing of this movie. This was supposed to be a major grand stand for the Bond franchise and instead it is one of the weaker spy films to have been released in the last three years. I came into the theater really wanting to like this movie. I still do like it. But instead of adapting and becoming something great like its predecessor, it slipped into familiar territory and danced the same dance as previous movies.

THE VERDICT

The standout villain of the film, Mr. Hinx played by Dave Bautista

What should've been the biggest Bond film in the history of franchise (the budget for the film was $245 million according to Box Office Mojo) comes across as just another generic spy movie. For the film to be considered a success it would need to gross more than $350 million. As of this review it is sitting at $160 million. This is not good for the future of the franchise. I had high hopes for the next two Bond films too and now it looks like neither will see the light of day. We will probably see another reboot of the franchise next time around. And this disappoints me.

The Bond films should be held to a higher standard. They should be the ones setting the standard and not the ones missing the mark. The expectations for director Sam Mendes's second Bond outing were high, maybe too high. Maybe it's one of those situations like THE LORD OF THE RINGS versus THE HOBBIT where replicating the magic and experience of the first, then trying to outdo the first, was an undertaking destined to fail. Or maybe it's a jinx of the even numbered Bond films. Whatever the case may be, Spectre, in my experience, is just another Bond film that I will probably not go out of my way to see a second time.

Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10 

Good. Average.

Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10