Spectre

When Spectre first came out, I left the theatre on an adrenaline high, nonsensically declaring that it was my favourite of the series. A globe-trotting, fantastical, action extravaganza, with the return of uber-villain, played by the actor I'd been wanting to be in a Bond film for years (my perfect trifecta for a Bond film would be Christopher Nolan directing, Michael Fassbender as Bond, and Christoph Waltz as the baddie). However, having now watched the series week after week, much like the title song, the writing really is on the wall in terms of the muddled nature of the film. 

Perhaps part of the excitement can be put down to the runaway success that Skyfall was, coupled with the fact that they kept on director Sam Mendes to helm this follow up. Add to that the anticipation of getting the big bad evil organisation Spectre back on screen, with the legal woes that had keep it locked away solved. I was interested to see how the team would be able to bring Spectre, and presumably its Number 1 head honcho back to modern audiences in a post-Dr Evil and post-9/11 world, where such concepts had been parodied to death, or simply seemed trite compared to real world evils. 

And on a surface level, the return of Spectre works handsomely. It reintroduction proper at its Rome meeting, with Mr Blofeld hidden in shadow, instilling fear in his subordinates with nary but whisper, and without having to reach for a red button to send one tumbling into an inferno below their chair, is spine-tingling stuff. As is the moment that omniscient Blofeld, knowing that Bond lurks in the rafters turns to taunt him. Okay, I'm thinking watching for the first time, there is something new about the relationship between the pair. 

The revelation that Bond and Blofeld are foster brothers seems off at first glance, and it isn't helped that this revelation is identical to the ending of Austin Powers: Goldfinger. Somehow the Craig era managed to fly so close to the sun in removing themselves from the techno wizardry of the final Brosnan movies, they accidentally stumbled upon ripping off a parody of Bond. Having said that, I don't think the concept is prima facie poor - as someone who doesn't get on with their brother, I sympathise with a guy who would be spurned on to develop a global network of terrorism and counter-espionage. 

The real problem lies in the fact that the wonderful Christoph Waltz needed more screen time. In Skyfall, the writers adhered to the classic Bond maxim of keeping your primary antagonist a shadowy figure for a significant bulk of the runtime. However, when they finally unveil Javier Bardem's Silva, he is in the film till the end, guns blazing. Waltz's Blofeld however doesn't get his proper introduction until very late in the film, having disappeared from the boardroom scene until then. In Dr No the titular metal handed doctor also had a similar schedule - appearing early on for some disembodied vocal threats to an underling, before wining and dining Bond at the end, and being killed off a scene later. Yet this works, as the relationship between Bond and Dr No is purely professional. Blofeld and Bond in Spectre are meant to meet with a history of animosity (albeit animosity that Bond was not aware had been brewing for many a year). 

I won't even get into the weirdness of the filmmakers pretending that Waltz was cast as anyone other than Blofeld in a film called Spectre. The reveal of his name in the film still doesn't make a lot of sense, except to the audience who know the name Blofeld, but at least it doesn't stick out as much as Benedict Cumberbatch's Khan reveal in Star Trek: Into Darkness. 

Having said all that about Blofeld the character, I still think Waltz played him well. Yes, he is just playing yet another version of his cultured European sinister chap schtick that he perfected in Inglorious Basterds, but what do you expect when you pick someone who seemed born to play Blofeld? (Perhaps they should have plumped for an unexpected choice, like Heath Ledger as The Joker, which would have forced them to reinvent the role, rather than play it safe). The torture scene with Bond is probably the highlight for Waltz, with him playing the chairman as mercurial and overconfident, his jabs at the interchangeableness of Bond's past lovers being a particularly spikey barb. 

Yet, for everything about that torture scene that I like, there are two elements of it which bely a weird misunderstanding on the part of the creators. First of all, the torture is elaborate, involving whirring drills, computer screens, and the hope that these drills start to kill off Bond's senses to point that he dies not recognising Lea Seydoux's Madeleine Swann. And yet, we cut back to Craig's first Bond film, Casino Royale, and Le Chiffre's observations before he tortures Bond with but a chair with a bottom cut out and a large knotted rope "You know, I never understood all these elaborate tortures. It's the simplest thing to cause more pain than a man can possibly endure." 

Spectre seems to fly in the face of maintaining the gritty realism that Casino Royale set out as its mantra. Following this torture, Bond manages to gun down a host of goons, escape, and blow up Blofeld's lair, without breaking a sweat - and all this despite the fact that he has just had drills rammed into his head. Several of the other set pieces in the film lack real consequence, the worst offender being the car chase in Rome, which is played up much more for spectacle and Roger Moore-esque puns (which, to be fair are actually quite good, in particular Bond's reaction to pressing the "atmosphere" button in his car only to have the car blare out some jazz music). Much more successful is the brutal train carriage brawl between the hulking, and almost silent Mr Hinx, (played by a towering Dave Bautista) and Bond. Unlike the Rome car chase, every punch and kick in this scene lands, and like classic Bond, he is simply outmatched physically by his foe, having to rely on heavenly intervention from Swann and his wits to defeat him. 

The second oddity that emerges from the torture scene is Bond's escape method. An exploding watch...despite the fact that the Q of the last film expressly said "Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don't go in for that sort of thing any more." This little get out of jail free card for Bond, again speaks volumes for the lack of precision in the plotting of the script. Blofeld's master plan with Bond relies on a lot of luck and gall to get Bond before him, banking on the fact that Bond is cocky enough to simply walk into his desert lair without being shot up instantly. Similarly, Blofeld's endgame with the 9 Eyes surveillance project is left a little underfed (similar to the list of secret agents stolen in Skyfall). You can fill in the blanks on these plot holes (Blofeld has stalked Bond for years, he knows he is cocky enough to stroll into his lair, and the 9 Eyes takeover is just to consolidate the power Spectre already has), but the film is tasking you with making up for sloppiness on the writer's part. I still hold that the reveal that Spectre was involved in the goings on of all of Bond's films, whilst clumsy and never the original intention, doesn't takeaway from the strengths of the narratives in them (in particular, Silva still had a vendetta against M, its just now that you can read it that he had very well funded financial backers).

Now, this review may sound overtly negative, perhaps more negative than for some of the films in the series that I actively avoid watching. But yet, despite all the faults above (and more), I still find myself coming back to Spectre. I think it is because, for all its lack of discipline, for all its slapdash approach to depth, it still wins me over with its charmingly retro approach to style over substance. And stylish this film is. The opening to Spectre easily ranks as one of the series' best, if not the best. Mendes, in clear anticipation of going on to the make the "one-shot" 1917, opens up Spectre with an audacious Day of the Dead festival, seemingly shot in one take (I count at least 2 cuts), showing Bond at his coolest: prowling across the rooftop, adjusting his cufflinks, and taking aim at his prey. Craig is probably at his most confident and cool throughout the film, relaxed enough to let a few catty one liners past, without raising an eyebrow (my personal favourite, shrugging off some political flexing from Andrew Scott's Max Denbigh "C" with a "Well that allsounds lovely").

Rather than Moneypenny getting the field work in this film, Ben Wishaw's Q and Ralph Fiennes' newly minted M get in on the action. Q even gets a chase scene! Ben Wishaw's casting as Q is the sort of innovation that probably should have been brought to the table when deciding to bring Blofeld back into the fold. Rather than have Q reappear as yet another old guy, it makes perfect sense for the tech specialist of today to be played by a wiz-kid type. Ralph Fiennes M harkens back to less personal leaders of MI6, although he gets to handle himself well in a fist fight, and gets the best line in the film when he nearly says a very different word beginning with C to call out Scott's C. 

Another throwback, although not in a necessarily in a good way, is Monica Bellucci's widow Sciarra. Touted as the oldest female actress to take on the role of a Bond woman, it is a shame that her appearance in the film is little more than a cameo. She does get a fantastically shot scene of her prowling through her mansion, her assailants taken down by Bond who slowly struts into focus. Perhaps with more adventurous writing hands, it could have been revealed that she was really the chairman of Spectre, with Waltz's Blofeld little more than a mouthpiece, his grudge against Bond simply weaponised by Sciarra. 

More successful, although what happens in No Time to Die is likely to colour a lot of her character, is Lea Seydoux's Madeline Swann. Writing her backstory as one in which she has already had a foot in the world of espionage and danger is a smart way of making the audience believe that she may be a worthy successor to Eva Green's Vesper Lynd. Seydoux is adequately spikey and capable for the majority of her screen time, to the point that it is a shame that she ends up as little more than a damsel in distress in the final act. Through her character, and Blofeld's origins, we also see the genesis of a theme for the film: that of choice and nature versus nurture. Both Bond and Blofeld had been shaped by their upbringing, and Swann makes a point to question Bond and his insistence to remain on the same path of superspy for the rest of his life. Although a bit more screen time away from explosions and gunfire between Bond and Swann would've been welcome, it is still believable that Bond would be willing to throw away the gun in the hope of a quiet life with her by the end. 

Overall, Spectre is undoubtedly a bit of a mess. A film that can't make its mind up as to whether it is psychologically driven or an action spectacular. It stands awkwardly with one foot firmly in the past, whilst trying to make incremental steps forward in other aspects. Yet despite all of this, I can't help but enjoy it. Perhaps it is reminds me of the first time watching the Bond series as a kid, with over the top villains, secret lairs, and fast cars, except now it is done with modern flair. 

By the end of Spectre, it felt like this was Craig's last hurrah as the secret agent, with his "I'd rather slash my wrists" misquote spreading like wildfire (he actually said "If you asked me to play Bond again right now, I'd rather slash my wrists.") And yet, he is to finally return in the often delayed No Time to Die, which looks like an explosive epilogue, that is going to dig up some secrets from Swann's past to haunt Bond. 

In the same vein as the sign off in the credits for Bond film, Above Average Joe Blogs will return, come 12 November 2020.