Australian Odeon
Spectre
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux
★★★★
After Pierce Brosnan’s Die Another Day seemed to jump the shark (or ‘surf the iceberg’ in the films’ case) the producers had to do some soul searching. While it hadn’t gotten to ‘Roger Moore in a clown suit’ levels of ridiculousness, Brosnan’s last Bond outing was a big step in the wrong direction. The casting of younger, bulkier Daniel Craig for the Casino Royale reboot displayed a desire for a more aggressive, “realistic” James Bond. The film itself suffered from pacing issues (the film all but dies once it arrives in Montenegro for an hour of card games) but the action was fairly grounded and largely done for real. Quantum of Solace took a step in the wrong direction, reducing Bond to a humourless thug, with a forgettable villain and disposable Bond girls. Then came Skyfall.
The creative team of director Sam Mendes and screenwriter John Logan managed to find a balance between Craig’s more aggressive Bond and the franchises’ roots, crafting an enjoyable and exciting spy movie. Which brings us to Spectre, which thankfully continues the trend started by Skyfall, making Bond fun and exciting without straying into camp nonsense. We begin in Mexico City, with Bond in pursuit of a mysterious henchman in one of the best Bond opening sequences since Tomorrow Never Dies. After Sam Smiths’ rather underwhelming theme song, we globe trot from London, to Rome, to Austria, to Tangiers as Bond slowly uncovers the mysterious organization known as Spectre.
Ralph Fiennes comfortably settles into the role of M, and Ben Whinshaw continues his great work as Q, both of whom have the roles expanded beyond the usual mission and gadget introductions. Much has been made of Monica Belluci as the oldest Bond girl since Honor Blackman and she is very alluring through her appearance is very brief. The main event, Bond girl wise, is Lea Seydoux as Madelaine Swann, a psychologist (oh yes) with a special connection to a member of Spectre. Christoph Waltz brings sufficient menace to villain Franz Oberhauser, though he lacks the gleeful insanity Javier Bardem brought to Silva. The films also rediscovers Bond’s ridiculousness, with various sequences and plot developments making no sense whatsoever, but serving as excuses for over the top but thoroughly enjoyable action sequences (Bond piloting a plane to pursue some henchmen in cars comes to mind). The action is largely done for real, with minimal use of computer graphics, reinforcing the feeling of a classic, if overlong, Bond film.
Skyfall seemed to announce that Craig had finally settled on the kind of Bond he wanted to be, and Spectre solidifies this idea with eye-popping action and wry humour that feels like classic Bond.