Spectre

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes
Running time: 148 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Daniel Craig returns as 007 in his fourth James Bond film, and it's another big success.  While Craig continues to build on his personal Bond storyline, this entry is dominated by a return to the past in its emphasis on classic Bond action and even the inclusion of an old nemesis.  The film is a bit long and less tightly written than previous Craig films, but its massively entertaining action makes up for it and then some; you'll leave the theater with a smile.  Highly recommended.


In Mexico City during the Day of the Dead festivities, British MI6 Agent 007 - James Bond (Craig) - is ostensibly enjoying the many "pleasures" around him.  However, he's on the case of a suspected terrorist plot in the city, and manages to defeat the villains.  On returning home to London, Bond is taken off field duty by M (Fiennes), who informs his agent that the entire "Double-O" program is in danger.  Not in physical danger, but from a new breed of government bureaucrats who seek to replace Bond and his ilk with all-knowing tech surveillance.  Bond's mission in Mexico City was just one step of a larger investigation though, and he is soon off to Rome to search for more clues to what is becoming a very unusual mystery.

Bond meets up with an old nemesis, one he encountered before his promotion to 007.  In exchange for information about the conspiracy, Bond promises to protect the man's daughter (Seydoux).  As the two travel the globe, Bond must fend off a vicious hitman (Bautista) and figure out why a man thought dead twenty years earlier seems to be showing up everywhere.  To do so, he will have to confront his past - both personal and professional.

Spectre has a rich cast of fun characters, with very capable actors bringing them to life.  Daniel Craig returns as the title character for his fourth James Bond film.  Not much new here - he neither gains nor loses ground on his previous performances.  Which also means that he is dynamite once again in the iconic role.  Although there is still some character development in this as in his other three Bond films, Craig gets to enjoy the "classic" Bond role - taking out the bad guys, seducing the ladies - more than before (more on this later).  Craig still has the steely demeanor that has defined his take on Bond; though less suave than previous actors, he does have a great wry sense of humor.  Christoph Waltz is great as the villain (to absolutely no surprise to anyone who's seen Inglourious Basterds).  The cool, collected calm of his evil sends shivers down your spine.  Bond girl Madeleine - played by Lea Seydoux - is among the better of Bond's love interests.  She is strong, though as a "normal" person (99.9% of us) is out of her league in 007's live-and-let-die world.  Bond's "supporting cast" at MI6 is quite good, with Fiennes, Whishaw as a young Q and Harris as Moneypenny; if Craig continues as Bond, their presence (presumably) would be a top reason to celebrate.

While Spectre is certainly still in the distinctive style and tone of Daniel Craig's three previous Bond films, it also heads back in time to classic 007 in more ways than one.  The slight change in course is not perfectly done, but it certainly still ends up as a film that stands alongside the other Craig films in quality.  There are a number of lengthy action scenes, and these - pure and simple entertainment - are the main focus, as opposed to building the Bond story as in the three previous films.  Overall this works great even if they sometimes last a little too long.  The opening scene, a Bond tradition, is good, especially the first few minutes.  There are several vehicular chases which definitely harken back to classic Bond in being over-the-top - in a good way.  And my favorite sequence involves the main "henchman", another Bond fixture (like Jaws).  Taking place in the close quarters of a train, the fight is incredibly intense and well-choreographed, possibly the best in Craig's entire run.  The scenes are not just well-executed:  the various locales are impressively shot and the camera knows how best to capture the characters, too.  Spectre stays true to 007 humor as well, especially Bond falling out of a building... and his landing somewhere strange.  In the biggest nod, Waltz's villain turns out to be the classic Bond nemesis (if you know who that is, don't worry, you'd have figured it out quickly anyway).  Thankfully, both Waltz's performance and the script do justice to the character from start to finish.

Although there are no huge problems with Spectre, there are a few reasons that it doesn't get my very top scores.  Overall, the melding of the "Craig style" of Bond to earlier films in the franchise goes quite well.  However, it does result, almost out of necessity, in a weaker overall plot than Craig's other films.  Deus ex machina shows up here rather often - something Craig's films have largely avoided though it is admittedly par for the course in the franchise.  How much you notice this (and how much it bothers you) may vary.  It's also quite a long film at two and a half hours.  A little more time in the editing room could have made this considerably tighter (especially a few of the action scenes).

***

Spectre stands as another triumph for Craig and even as much as I enjoy the entire franchise, the consistent level of quality in his Bond films is incredible.  This is one of the quickest turnarounds for me between seeing a movie and reviewing it (~3 hours); in that time, and especially as I'm writing this, my opinion is improving significantly.  That may be because I started getting a headache and had to resist a call from nature for a good chunk of the film.  A second viewing is definitely in order, even if I hadn't dealt with that previous sentence on the first go.  The improving opinion is also a symptom of Spectre - a movie I very eagerly awaited - not being quite what I expected (e.g. incorporating more "classic Bond" fixtures), and I felt the same way about The Dark Knight Rises.  Speaking of highly anticipated films, this was the second of the "Big Three" this year that I've looked forward to for several years.  The first was Jurassic World, and in a little over a month the third will arrive - the new Star Wars.  So far, so very good.  Spectre is high quality action filmmaking and recommended for any sensible person.




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