[Review] Spectre (2015) – Misery loves company

cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Rory Kinnear

director: Sam Mendes

I always knew death would wear a familiar face… but not yours.

2015 is shaping up as the year of acknowledging and rendering homage to beloved movie franchises. We’ve seen it in “Jurassic World”, we’ve had a taste with all the teasers and trailers for Star Wars and “Spectre” wasn’t shy to pay tribute to the past. Sam Mendes steady hands and vision for the latest installment of James Bond’s adventures focus on tying the loose ends on all the movies in which Daniel Craig delivered his tongue and cheek approach. “Spectre” is also a farewell movie for Craig. At this point, his forth foray in the espionage world shaped by Ian Fleming is his last.

It had been a bumpy ride although Craig brought his skills and commitment for this role. James Bond is a coveted part for any British actor. It can give your profile a boost and bring you into the limelight. Daniel Craig hasn’t been a crowd favorite as James Bond. Still, he brought sass, depth, attitude and dynamic to his reincarnation. We’re waiting now on who will be the next James Bond. Until then, we’re hashing out the good, the bad and the ugly of “Spectre”.

Sam Smith’s “Writing on the Wall” hasn’t been a sold and welcomed hit by the fans. Many spoke against the romantic ballad, claiming it doesn’t match the epicness of Adele’s “Skyfall”. It’s soulful, it’s powerful yet many felt it doesn’t hit and mix well with Bond’s spirit and this story-line. There wasn’t a grey area around this song, either you hated it with a passion or you embraced it. With the classical opening scene – might as well say it in the open, fighting for the top spot with the one from “Skyfall” – this tune began living to the crowds expectations, infused with the story-line “Spectre” proposed.

Bond’s adventures begin in Mexico on the Dia de Los Muertos, chasing a high profile assassin and member of the Spectre organisation. Mendes approached this script with a Marvel Cinematic Universe chapeau Everything is connected. On the bright side, you may rest assured that dead and gone characters don’t spring back to life and cackle their triumphant return, however, it does focus a lot on solving long lived plot holes from the other movies and not catering on character development for many characters brought on broad.

If you’re hoping for some in depth, character driven story for Monica Bellucci, sadly, you’ll be given a cameo appearance and a wham-bang-thank-you ma’am. In the economy of the script and giving the fact the movie towers above a 2 hours and thirty minutes of cinema thrills, Bellucci is delegated to the damsel in distress part and after the thank you ma’am part, you never see her again.

While James is chasing a shadow organisation set on bringing chaos to the world, MI6 is faced with a taking over coming from the new voice of MI5, Sherlock’s Andrew Scott delivering some witty, in your face lines to Ralph Fiennes. For the fans, there are some good moments between these two, taking in consideration the fact that both of them took on some dear, beloved villains and now they share the same screen. It’s nice to see Fiennes’ M doing more than behind the desk work and that involves secondary character like Q and Moneypenny, giving them more screen time.

We’ve tackled the bad – Monica Bellucci’s poorly constructed character – we’ve mentioned the good – Daniel Craig’s strong performance, the opening sequence, the homage and connecting the dots, the promising engagement of secondary characters – let’s delve into the ugly. Lea Seydoux and Christoph Waltz characters. Seydoux’s Dr. Swann begins her journey as the typical Bond Girl then tries to become the second Vesper Lynd to Bond. Alright, I get it that the screenwriters established a formula in which Craig finally parts his way from Bond and gives the character some sort of resolution after four movies, however, for me, the spirit of Bond is not of a man who rides happily into the sunset with his lady love. It also happens to be one of the poorest chemistry between two characters. On the other hand, Waltz’ Oberhauser starts his journey in the shadows, brings in the shocking revalation but is bearly used in the plot. From evil genius, mastermind and bane of all misery for Bond, Waltz dances between sadist brillance to a shallow villain who clearly presents himself as a future, stronger nemesys reclaiming his power. It might be a smart move to keep Waltz around for more but it would have been nice to use him as a center stage figure and bring him faster from the shadow and into the light. As for Dave Bautista, let’s just say, he pulls a Clegane move. It’s not much but he’s fun to watch around.

“Spectre” joins the ranks of the blockbuster movies of 2015, it will be re-seen by many, it will earn big at the box-office and offered an emotional salute to Daniel Craig’s era as James Bond. It has its ups and downs but is infused with a steady action pace, witty lines for all the characters.

“If I risk it all/Could you break my fall?” these are the lyrics from “Writing’s on the Wall” it might as well be a good summary for this Bond tale and Mendes approach on the movie. Is it a won gamble for the team? Yes. Will it be remembered? Absolutely. Is it perfect? It depends on how high you’ve raised your bar. As far as I’m concerned, I can say, this ride didn’t waste my time.

Edge and Back: 8/10