![]() ![]() The film tries to recapture the magic of “Skyfall” by having the villain attack a building tied intrinsically into Bond’s identity, but it has none of the riveting character drama or mind-blowing action that film displayed. After 3 astonishing third acts (yes I like the exploding hotel in “Quantum”), “Spectre” fails. The biggest crime “Spectre” commits from an action perspective is with its woeful climax. Admittedly, the explosion is cool, but in comparison to the much smaller one during the climax of “Skyfall”, it lacks heft and feels perfunctory from a dramatic perspective. Bond dispatches hordes of henchmen before igniting the biggest explosion in cinema history, but as a viewer, you don’t feel anything. Similarly, the base escape is a perfect example of overblown effects with no soul. The Rome car chase looks nice, but as 007 is on the phone with Moneypenny throughout the pursuit, the sequence is more of an exposition dump than a pulse-pounding chase. ![]() This feels like a good point to move onto my criticisms with “Spectre” because, whilst the above-mentioned action is noteworthy, the rest is pretty pedestrian. ![]() The Austria plane chase is exhilarating and the “From Russia With Love” esque train fight is hard-hitting and exciting. From the incredible long-take (that gave us a small taste of Sam Mendes’ next film, “1917”) to the jaw-dropping spectacle of the Day of the Dead parade and the heart-stopping helicopter fight, this is my favourite scene in “Spectre” without question. I love a handful of the action set-pieces, particularly the phenomenal pre-title sequence. Whether the combination of the established Craig atmosphere with more old school touches worked is up for debate, but it was nice to see these aspects come back into the fold properly. We finally get the gun barrel at the start of the movie again, the film’s antagonist resides in a huge lair and gadgets make a comeback. ![]() “Spectre” does a decent job of introducing the tropes of earlier Bond films. Jesper Christensen makes a welcome return to the series, providing a chilling, vulnerable and multi-layered performance, whilst also tying up a dangling plot thread left over from “Quantum of Solace.” Monica Bellucci does the best she can with the 5 minutes of screen time she’s given and the underwhelming role she plays in the story. Dave Bautista doesn’t break the mould of silent, imposing and enormous henchmen, but he fills said mould extremely well. Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and Ralph Fiennes are excellent modern incarnations of the iconic MI6 characters. It has its moments, but the struggle to replicate the success of “Skyfall” is palpable in every scene. However, a few of the key actors are on autopilot, some of the action sequences (although visually striking), are tepid and the third act stands with 2017s “Wonder Woman” as one of the most crushingly disappointing finales I’ve seen. Certain cast members are terrific, some of the action is thrilling and the first two-thirds of the film balance the grounded tone of the Craig era with the escapism of the classic films fairly well. I don’t hate “Spectre” unlike some Bond fans, I don’t consider it to be the worst film in the series. As “Skyfall” has been one of my favourite films of all time since I was 9 (as of right now, it’s probably my number one favourite), I was obviously going crazy during the build-up to “Spectre.” Going into 2015, it was tied with “Avengers: Age of Ultron” as my most anticipated film of the year. Regardless of the film’s overall quality, “Spectre” always faced an uphill battle as a sequel to “Skyfall.” After the 2012 blockbuster reached critical and commercial heights the likes of which the franchise has rarely seen, “Spectre” had a lot to live up to. Was this an “All Time High”, or will we need “All the Time in the World” to forget it. But at last, with Craig’s final outing as James Bond just a few short hours away, let’s go back 6 years (a third of my lifetime) and examine how “Spectre” has evolved over time. I’ve been meaning to review “Spectre” for about 18 months, as I wanted to coincide it with the release of the 25th Bond film, but for obvious reasons, that plan has been scuppered multiple times. I’ve booked my tickets, I’ve completed my marathon of the previous Daniel Craig 007 films, I’ve watched each trailer a couple of hundred times and now I’m trying to contain my giddy excitement as I await my most anticipated movie in years. It feels like I may be tempting fate to say it, but “No Time To Die” is released tomorrow. ![]()
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