James Bond holds a special nostalgic place in my heart. When Blockbuster was still a thing (R.I.P old friend), my family would stop by after dinner and pick out a movie to watch. For several months, my dad and I held a James Bond marathon, renting out a new Bond film every weekend. With 26 films over the last 50 years, there were quite a few to get through, but I like to think we saw as many as Blockbuster had in stock.
Over this time, for better or worse, a formula became apparent. The films open with James Bond walking in front of a gun barrel and turning to shoot the screen as the bombastic orchestra blasts the Bond theme. There’s a musical introduction with a pop singer over artsy visuals. Bond is an invincible lady’s man, traveling to exotic locations and going against a crazy villain with some technology powerful enough to take over the world. He orders a martini, shaken not stirred. He is partners with a tech genius named Q, ignores the orders of his uppity boss M and flirts with the MI6 worker Moneypenny.
While “Casino Royale” and “Skyfall” added their own spin on the formula for fresh takes on Daniel Craig’s role as Bond, “Spectre” settles into the same routine as its predecessors.
But that’s not a bad thing. We haven’t had a traditional Bond film since the campy “Die Another Day” back in 2002. So in a way, this return to the familiar is fresher than the more modern Craig films. While I like the modern films the most, I can confidently say “Spectre” is the best traditional Bond film in a long time.
The story is a simple one. Agent 007, played by Daniel Craig, is on a mission. Opening in Mexico City during a massive Day of the Dead festival, Bond is pursuing a member of the evil organization known as Spectre. In his pursuit of Spectre, he travels across the world, from Sweden to Morocco. Along the way he meets a beautiful woman, fights a genius villain, uses a spy watch to get out of trouble and drives a fancy car. Honestly, the story is the same as it was in the first films with Sean Connery, just with the threats getting an update to the modern age of Internet with a brief message on government surveillance thrown in to be topical. It’s not the story that matters, it’s how the director and actors portray the story we all know. Fortunately, that is where “Spectre” shines.
I didn’t know anything about director Sam Mendes before “Spectre,” but I was blown away by his work here. The opening shot in Mexico City is one glorious take, with the camera winding through expertly choreographed parade performances and stunning costume designs. It follows Bond into a building, up an elevator, through a hotel room window and across rooftops, all without any cuts.
Mendes has a way of framing the action so that it is always clear exactly what is going on, like in a huge action set piece on the side of a mountain with Bond in a plane chasing some henchmen in trucks. His wide shots of the exotic locales are gorgeous in their own right, and juxtapose wonderfully with the destruction Bond seems to bring with him everywhere. The colors are also stunning, with bright whites in the mountains contrasting with expansive browns of the Sahara desert and cold grays of London.
The best aspect of the film, by far, is how well the actors settle into the traditional roles. Craig has been a stellar Bond for three films previous, and he does not disappoint on his fourth outing. He seems more suave than his past portrayals, but it feels natural given the character development in the previous films. The ‘Bond girl’ is played by the elegant Léa Seydoux, but she is unfortunately not especially memorable outside of her good looks and French accent. Ralph Fiennes, fresh off a stellar performance in “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” does a great job playing the hard-nosed but loyal M and the bumbly Ben Whishaw is adorably quirky as tech-genius Q.
While the good guys all do a good job, the villains are spectacular in “Spectre.” The introduction of Christoph Waltz as Blofeld is genius — his face is covered in shadows and everyone goes silent when he enters the room. Every word he says resonates and the power emanating from them is palpable. When his face is finally shown, he gives a twisted smile to the camera, and I couldn’t help remembering Waltz’s award-winning role as Colonel Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds.” Waltz has a way of balancing pure evil with playful malice, and he was a perfect fit to play the villain here.
Also of note is Dave Bautista as the silent-but-deadly lead henchman Mr. Hinx. He gets a similar dark intro as Blofeld, but instead of menacing dialogue he shows off his power through physical means “Game of Thrones” style by gouging out someone’s eyes and snapping necks like toothpicks. He is an intimidating character, but it leads to one of the main flaws with “Spectre.”
James Bond, for the first time in the Daniel Craig era, is invincible. Old Bond films treat the character of Bond as a superhero, dispatching hundreds of henchman and blowing up secret islands all without getting a single wrinkle in his suit. That is where “Casino Royale” and “Skyfall” excelled. James Bond was not untouchable: he was tortured, wounded and forced into hiding. He was still a good spy, but he wasn’t some invincible force of nature like he is in “Spectre.” That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The expert camerawork and beautiful action are fun to watch, but there is a certain lack of stakes involved when James Bond can’t be hurt that takes away part of the thrill.
Another part of the Bond formula that doesn’t translate well in modern times is the inherent sexism. One scene has Bond sleep with a woman to get information, but he also just killed her husband a few scenes prior. For the first time in recent memory, Bond came off more as a creep with women than a suave spy, and that is frustrating. It might have worked back when Ian Fleming wrote the original James Bond stories, but I couldn’t help feeling dirty watching it in today’s day and age.
Overall, “Spectre” follows the classic formula beat by beat. The action, scenery and characters are all a blast to watch, but a few elements don’t age as well. Nevertheless, “Spectre” is a very well put together film and worth seeing in theaters.
_MOVE gives “Spectre” four out of five stars._
