Daniel Craig gets to finish out on a high note unlike three previous Bonds with Spectre, trust me, Day Another Day and A View to a Kill…PU! License Revoked was just mediocre because the franchise was struggling on numerous levels.
Now when I first heard that SPECTRE would return, I was rejoicing saying, “Finally! They’re going to bring back the terrorist organization which began with the Bond movies!” Blofeld, Largo and the gang ran the group responsible for spawning all the knock-offs, real (al-Qeda) and fake (Hydra, HIVE, AIM, etc.). Fleming’s SPECTRE was a terrorists’ terrorist! It wasn’t exactly motivated by ideology since its membership included former Nazis, ex-SMERSH agents, mobsters, representatives from Tito’s dictatorship, ethnic separatists in Europe and North African drug traders. SPECTRE was ahead of its time in the Sixties due to it acting like a corporation willing to sell to the highest bidder.
At least I found out why Blofeld and company remained shelved when the Nineties and beyond would’ve been the time to reintroduce them after the Soviet Union declined. Fleming’s creation was still embroiled in what I call the Thunderball lawsuit, hence Quantum acted as the poor substitute in Craig’s second flick. All the lawyers from Sony, MGM/US, EON, etc., did finally settle everything around 2013 and sadly, the people running Bond failed immensely. It’s why I put an asterisk after my rating. Huge diehards of James Bond are seriously disappointed.
NO SPOILER ALERT, but I’m sure anyone with an IQ over 60 will figure it out.
The movie opens with Bond in Mexico City. He’s taking part in the Day of the Dead festivities yet very quickly we see he’s really there to take out just another terrorist. After an impressive string of explosions and helicopter stunts, we jump to the trademark opening title sequence. Cut to silhouettes of nude women dancing set to a crappy song by flavor-of-the-month Sam Smith. Rule number one for me is starting to come true; if the Bond song is terrible, odds favor the movie will good. Exceptions: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Thunderball, Man with the Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me. Die Another Day is absolute crap on every level.
Once again, Bond is on the carpet with M (now Ralph Fiennes). The assassination by 007 was not sanctioned by MI-6 and M has a new boss who oversees all UK intelligence operations. Once again, Bond is suspended which as always leads to him carrying out the investigation without official assistance from M, Q and Moneypenny. Ho hum! In Spectre‘s defense, we’re not inundated with product placements plugging gear MI-6 isn’t likely to utilize. Bond’s hunches play out, blah blah blah, giant conspiracy involving blah blah blah, saves the day, the end. Oh yeah, Bond gets laid a couple times.
It’s not all awful, otherwise, I would’ve given the movie a more negative rating instead throwing on a caveat for fellow Bond fans.
I do love the continuity. The producers rip off Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man sequels in the opening credits by showing pictures of those Craig’s Bond has encountered/killed: Le Chiffre, Silva, Vesper. All the events from Skyfall remain recent in everyone’s memory. So applause to the parties responsible for this! One gripe I had with past Bond adventures, they could be watched in almost any order after Connery and even his were loosely connected.
Another element, Spectre brings up a real-world problem to say true to what its predecessors did: Quantum revolved around the privatization of water in South America and Casino was tied to the numerous wars in Africa. Spectre‘s issue? Surveillance of everything, everyone and everywhere coated in the bullshit litany about how it’s the only way to keep people safe. MI-6’s field operations, namely the double-O program, are being scrapped thanks to satellites, drones and wiretapping. As I’m writing this, Paris is recuperating from another string of shootings possibly linked to ISIS/ISIL. I don’t know about the UK, but I definitely know it’s a weak argument pushed in America by both major parties. Nevermind what a failure these policies have been while our civil liberties have been eroded to a Soviet-style police state with a private contractor’s logo replacing the ol’ hammer and sickle. Bond and M stand up for the old-style of intelligence. Sure it has had its share of failures, namely Kim Philby, Robert Hanssen and the CIA’s obsession with killing Fidel Castro. However, in their defense, at least the West had a more human stake in the outcome. Technology is only as effective as the people behind it, currently, not much, and our enemies aren’t stupid; they already know how to outwit satellites and skirt wiretaps.
Enough of the soapbox James Bond brought up.
Spectre remains true to other elements in Craig’s run. Car chases, exotic locales and his Bond not being a graceful killer. There was some humor too. You’ll recognize the scenes when you see them.
It all falls apart with SPECTRE and its leader Franz Oberhauser. Hollywood has fallen into this moronic trap of having the villains somehow related to the hero. I’m not spoiling anything, you can see it in the trailer when Oberhauser calls out Bond by his first name amongst other crap. When Darth Vader said he was Luke’s father, fine. It worked. Why? It came out of the blue and in The Empire Strikes Back, their duel was their first person-to-person encounter. For three years, Vader was just a “faceless” enemy Luke fought to avenge his father and Luke was a mere bump in the Force to Vader. In Spectre, Oberhauser has some connection to Bond’s past, you’ll just be disappointed to find out what it is.
Maybe when they replace Craig, they can reboot again, help us forget while keeping SPECTRE around to wreak more havoc. Next up, hire a better artist to sing the theme song. They’ve struck out every time after Chris Cornell’s excellent “You Know My Name.”
Meanwhile, for the casual and non-Bond fans. You’ll enjoy Spectre. It’s not an insult, it’s a genuine endorsement.
Alamo Extras: Tons of awful trailers: Carry on Spying, James Tont (Italian knockoff) and Operation Kid Brother (starring Connery’s brother); James Bond Jr. video game sequence; scene from the terrible Casino Royale TV adaptation circa 1954; Japanese Nintendo ad for Goldeneye the game; ad for Bond Bread, Corgi toys (my brother had that Astin-Martin car), 007 vapor paper and OddJob plugging cough syrup; Someone showing off a vintage 007 toy gun kit; an Ali G bit; James Bonds knockoffs from around the world, a horrible Thai version incorporating the droids from Star Wars and James Batman from the Philippines; Billy Dee Williams did something like this; Weird Al’s Spy Hard opening credits; and Max von Sydow explains what SPECTRE means.