Spectre (2015)

Director: Sam Mendes

Story: John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade

Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux

Music: Thomas Newman

Time: 148 minutes

Bottom-line: Thrilling, but doesn’t match the standards of Casino Royale or Skyfall

The twenty fourth instalment in the James Bond, the fourth (and mostly the last) film starring Daniel Craig as 007, Spectre brings back the hero after 3 years. Co-starring Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux in the lead roles, with Ralph Fieness, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris reprising their roles, and Andrew Scott in the supporting cast, the film shows us Bond’s encounters with probably the biggest villain he has faced yet.

Craig as 007

“I am the author of all your pain…”

After Gareth Mallory (Fieness) gets promoted to M, Bond (Craig) disobeys MI6’s orders and goes to Mexico City and assassinates a certain Marco Sciarra, as per the previous M’s (Dench) orders. He procures a ring with a stylised octopus and returns to London, where he is suspended from field duty. M meanwhile has conflicts with Max Denbigh (Scott), the head of Joint Intelligence Service, who plans to absolve the double-O section. Bond later learns about a terrorist organisation called Spectre, whose meeting he attends. He identifies the leader as Franz Oberhauser (Waltz), a man long presumed dead. As Bond is pursued by Franz’s hitmen, he finds clues linking various characters from the previous three films, which brings him to Madeleine Swann (Seydoux), who leads Bond to the largest criminal organisation he has faced in his career.

Waltz as Franz

Daniel Craig still carries that style and class despite the four-year gap between Skyfall and Spectre. It would be a disappointment if this is the last film with him playing 007, for I found his portrayal highly impressive. The bond girl here – other than being much older than expected – is quite different from the rest (at least she doesn’t get him into trouble!). Christoph Waltz is someone whom I believe is one of the top actors of today, especially in playing the role of a villain. Cunning, charming, and incredibly suave, he plays this role to perfection…the only fault being his character should have been given more screen time. The crew did not use his acting skills to the full extent; he could have played a much better villain.

Seydoux as Swann

The opening action sequence is clichéd… Skyfall at least had a twist just before the opening credits rolled. The visual effects could have improved, and the title sequence wasn’t as impressive as that of the previous Craig films. The action sequences were impressive, and the stunts exciting (and unbelievable of course!). The story is not that great because there is more talk and less action; I did not like the idea where they brought in all the villains from the previous films and tied everything into one bundle. The first encounter between Franz and Bond in the meeting is probably the best scene in the film.

Scott as Max 

While the script has its strengths, the most obvious fault I could find is the misuse of characters. The idea of a “master villain” is something debatable, but I for one did not like it. Watch Spectre mainly for the action; in most other aspects, it falls short of expectations.

My Rating: 3/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 65%