Spectre is the 24th instalment of the much loved franchise and stars Daniel Craig in his forth outing as the famous spy. Sam Mendes returns to direct after the phenomenal success of Skyfall which celebrated 50 years of the franchise and ended up earning the most ever at the box office as well as becoming the biggest grossing british film of all time.
The plot involves a cryptic message from Bond’s past that sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive. Bond peels back the layers of deceit to revel the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
James Bond 24: The Good
Spectre is the most rounded bond we have come to expect for a long time. Its a film for Bond fans young and old and features all elements you would expect in a Bond movie, glamourous cars, exotic locations, exciting gadgets and lots of dead pan one-liners.
Daniel Craig is probably at his most comfortable in Spectre displaying the confidence which his portrayal of the character and displays humour and one-liners effortlessly. Gone are his earlier and more serious entries to the series such as Quantum of Solace and more of a homage to the golden days of Bond.
Christoph Waltz brings all the menace and sinister presence you would expect as “Franz Oberhauer” [whether or not he turns out to be the head of Spectre, will have to see the movie and find out for yourself]. he is more of a old school Bond villain hell bent on world domination.
The bond girls, the excellent Monica Bellucci in a small but effective cameo during an encounter with Bond in Rome and french actress, Lea Seydoux as “Madeleine Swan” who is Bonds equal in tens of combat skills and ordering a dirty martini.
Ben Whishaw returns as “Q” and is given a bigger part this tie round and displays most of the humour and laughs particularly the banter between him and Bond.
Dave Bautista is the hulking henchman “Mr Hinx” who pays a fun homage to previous Bond villains, Jaws and Oddjob. He brings both intelligence, menace and intimidation to the role and clearly proves that Bond has met his match this time round.
Spectre’s main pleasures is its use of the real stunts and practical effects and sets, from its thrilling opening sequence which is a cheeky nod to Live and Let Die as well as fisticuffs on a train between Bond and Hinx. Again with Skyfall, Spectre delves into Bonds dark past and explores the character in more detail than ever before.
James Bond 24: The Bad
This is almost the perfect Bond movie its probably the best Bond of the Craig era [Casino Royal was my favourite before this]. This time round Naomie Harris’s “Moneypenny” is out of the picture almost and has little to do but, she does share great chemistry between Bond with her very few scenes.
Sam Smith’s Bond theme isn’t the most memorable but does suit the story and works excellently with the pre-title sequence and the effects.
Conclusion:
Overall, Spectre is the purist bond film so far displaying fun references to previous Bond movies and everything fans could wish for, breathless action, exciting gadgets and fun one-liners and Craig’s attempt at going full Bond.