Having watched Skyfall at least 4 or 5 times since it was in the cinema, purely for replay value, watching Javier Bardem tear it up on screen as a very competent and convincing villain and also for searching my actor friends who appeared as extras in the film, I had high expectations for what was to come with Spectre. I will admit, I was intrigued with the next Bond installment primarily for the inclusion of a Dave Bautista more commonly and familiarly known to WWE fans (like myself) as Batista, a former multiple time world champion turned Hollywood actor, hoping to jumpstart a successful new career path like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson did and has.
I have always been an avid Bond fan, and like many guys from my generation, my first inspiration to get me hooked was Goldeneye. A great film for nostalgia's sake, the classic characters, good villains and post cold war techie vibe to it (I am INVINCIBLE!!), and most importantly, the much-loved and revered N64 Goldeneye game which consumed many of us and helped launch a new wave of multiplayer action games that we know today.
Goldeneye impressed me and encouraged me to explore other Bond titles, previous ones and subsequent ones, and here we are with Spectre in 2015.
Ok, so excitement aside, after countless cologne, shaving, car and music adverts shilling the film, I finally got round to watching it with some friends...
But first, I would like to recap a tiny bit on the film that laid the foundations for Spectre... 'Skyfall'.
What I enjoyed about Skyfall was its intensity and humour working together in unison, there was a threat of danger with Javier Bardem's villain 'Silva' displaying a multifaceted character rich with humour, flamboyancy and intimidation, from his camp mannerisms and blonde hair right to his disfigured jawline and sinister execution of innocent people.
His backstory made sense as he felt rejected and deemed non existent by his former employers, MI6. He was once the super agent his superiors counted on to finish the job efficiently but it all went wrong for him when he got captured and had to endure taking a cyanide tablet that didn't kill him off. His story had mileage and made for some great interactions as he had history with Bond and a sort of unusual maternal or even affectionately awkward affiliation with Judi Dench's 'M' - He also had motive and you kind of liked him, he made you laugh, I enjoyed his unique method of interacting with Bond in a sort of homosexually teasing way, I enjoyed his laugh and his character altogether was a huge part of why Skyfall entertained me, I could watch a Spin-off of his character, he had charm and Javier's got great acting ability. Complimenting villains aside, the action sequences were intense and had a serious tone to them making it feel that THIS time, the threat is imminent, its believable and you know lives are at stake. The sub-story of M trying to convince the government that spies are very much still relevant and the world is in danger gave the film some emotion and gravitas. The humour was present too during the training scenes and the chemistry between M and Bond. And the ending of the film, without spoiling it for those who haven't watched the movie, proved that not all Bonds have predictable outcomes.
I'm digressing slightly, but you get my point, Skyfall, in my opinion, was awesome.
So Spectre. The next chapter had to impress me even more, and improve or at least surpass itself from Skyfall. Naturally, sequels or continuations in a series have that difficult task of exceeding expectations from a previously epic installment, and Spectre had that task.
Where Skyfall had those underlying themes of government control, threats to national security and technology paving the way more and more for future generations, previous Bond films provided you with a sense of escapism where you were whisked off to foreign exotic locations and the villains were cartoonish and Bond's bosses/colleagues were far less serious, it felt as if Bond had more leeway with his actions and the humour was how he got away with certain things much to the chagrin of his co-workers and peers. Skyfall felt more realistic, gritty and raw, it gave you a subject we can all relate to such as politics, war on terror, cyber terrorism, data protection and our safety, even the locations seemed far more recogniseable and closer to home which made the action scenes feel more intimate and suspenseful.
So come Spectre and I knew that it would follow on from Skyfall and tie up some loose ends but I was hoping it would then venture off into familiar Bond territory again with gadgets, beautiful women, cheesy lines and unnecessary locations to retrieve answers just for the sake of random locations quota. For example, going all the way to Mount Everest, climb it, nearly die several times, get frost bite, become miraculously healed by a native mountain babe and reach the very top only to meet a computer hacker who then tells them to go back to London. (That was an exaggerated and fictional example, but you know what I mean.) But besides a few scenes dotted about, this film decided to play a similar story arch to the previous film and involve politics again and inside conspiracy within the government and London being the backdrop again. Sure Bond is British and London looks awesome in these films which I'm sure generates a ton of new interest for tourists and the like but I don't want to watch Bond and be reminded of Spooks or Homeland or Mission Impossible or the news. I want to watch Bond because a man with a uni-brow and a fake hip called Mr. One Brow wants to decimate the world with his new laser, not watch a string of new politically minded Bond films where Bond is being cautioned in every scene and the audience is watching the governmental characters opine that spies are unnecessary. The villains should be the ones stroking the cat and laughing hysterically at destruction, not the suited pen pushers in parliament. But I guess my last statement may resonate with people due to the current disdain towards our government and politics in real life. But still, even though I am an analyst at heart, for Bond films, I want to suspend my disbelief, and while Skyfall intrigued me with its grittier approach and its closer-to-home content, I was ready to move on to new ideas.
The film started off incredibly strong with an opening scene during a celebration of the dead with Bond disguised under a voodoo mask and suavely wandering up to a hotel suite with a woman in his arms only to scout the neighboring buildings with intent to extract or obtain information. ..
(From this point in this article, I won't give away any more detailed descriptions of each scene I write about because if you've seen the film then you will know what I'm talking about and if you haven't then you won't want to be spoiled.)
The whole scene was aggressive, tense and got you right into the action. The helicopter scene, in my opinion made me shake my head at times, not only for the nauseating camerawork which is no complaint as it made me feel like I was in the helicopter itself which is a compliment to the direction, but because Bond, the good guy, whether he defies orders or not, is a bit of a womaniser or is a maverick, should not make you feel like he couldn't give a damn about ordinary human lives. I felt the same way in Goldeneye where Brosnan's bond would practically destroy a town with a tank. YES, I want to suspend my disbelief, but at the same time, I can't help but feel sorry for a historic town being trampled on by a tank and thinking (too deeply albeit) about how much destruction can cause chaos and oppression for the citizens. Unless the bad guys are causing the chaos and destruction, which is a pretty simple and logical explanation and detail, the good guys shouldn't be the ones causing more damage and conflict unprompted or without a more humane execution. The same could be said for this opening scene. Bond wants to obtain something from this guy who is escaping in a helicopter, sure that's cool, the fight looked great, but then he starts pummeling the pilot, who's operating a helicopter with rotating blades directly over HUNDREDS of innocent people, why the hell doesn't he point a gun at the pilot and get him to fly somewhere where no civilian casualties will occur and then batter the ever living crap out of the dude. I know Bond eventually wanted to commandeer the helicopter himself and fly off into the sunset leading to Sam Smith's "Writing on the wall" title sequence, but I couldn't help but think, "Jesus, Bond, what the f**k you doing? People can be seriously hurt here" and you don't want to feel like that about a good guy and especially at the beginning of the film. But I guess, for dramatic effect, it did its job successfully.
So that was my first gripe. But, all in all, that scene was pretty sharp (Helicopter blades pun intended) and got you pumped for the next scenes.
So what made me talk fondly about Skyfall at the beginning of this article when discussing Spectre? Well, after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Skyfall helped to establish the new rebooted Daniel Craig version of Bond as the bond we have known for years. We needed a reboot, we needed a backstory, Casino Royale established the origins of why he doesn't trust many people, why he can't/won't fall in love anymore etc, right through to Skyfall where it showed his roots where he grew up and his close connection with M and they reintroduced certain characters like Moneypenny (which I will get to a bit later) and a much younger, more technologically affluent and relatable 'Q' as well as some new characters that will be part of the franchise. So up to Skyfall, it felt Craig's Bond was repackaged, reintroduced and ready to dive into the world of suave agent. But Spectre, (which may be Craig's final Bond outing or maybe the penultimate,) instead continues to establish Craig's version of Bond even further, so we are still figuring him out, we are still exploring his relationship with his job and if spies are necessary and if he is a good man with a tormented soul etc. And if rumours are true that Spectre is Craig's potential last film, then I kind of wanted him to be a complete character ready to spurt out some cheesy quips, sleep with a woman and never say goodbye and find unique ways to thwart the latest adversary. And I felt Spectre took its damn time to get to that point in parts of the film.
Moving suavely on to some of the action scenes. If you remember such classic Bond action scenes from the 60's, 70's and 80's such as Moonraker, then the action by today's standards looks dated, awkward and monotonous, most audiences could figure out the choreography move by move because it wasn't exactly thrilling hand to hand combat, free running, parkour or Mixed Martial Arts that we expect from modern Bonds or from the Bourne franchise. This isn't a knock on previous Bond predecessor's like Connery, Dalton or Moore but mentality in cinema is completely different nowadays than it once was, the lead actors are doing more and more stunts, they train for months beforehand on various combat skills and maneuvers and that is why contemporary films of this generation look far more realistic, because the actors are doing most of what we are seeing and look like they are getting their asses handed to them in the process.
Past Bond films had more comedy to the fight scenes and were done with a certain style, friendliness and old school bravado, the last two decades from Brosnan to Craig have upped the ante and added more finesse to the fight sequences, employed actual MMA fighters as characters and the villains aren't just gimmicky foes who sit on a swiveling chair and press a button, they are now displayed as more legitimate threats. So Spectre delivers in every sense of the word, action, brutality and violence. Bautista's 'Mr. Hinx' character is a silent but very deadly assassin and looks menacing in every scene, he harkens back to enjoyable vintage villains such as Jaws or Oddjob. Too bad Mr. Hinx came across as too memorable and intimidating compared to the actual main villain 'Franz Oberhauser' played by Christoph Waltz which I will touch upon more, a bit later too.
Sorry, I was distracted by a scantily clad women emerging from the depths of the ocean in a white bikini... where was I? Ah, the action in Spectre. So yes, the fights were orchestrated very well and Mr. Hinx was definitely cast accurately. My next gripe as it were, was the first car chase between Bond and Hinx. Besides a few comic moments that Bond fans have become all too familiar with in the franchise, I'm not sure about anyone else, but I felt like I was watching Fast & the Furious meets an Aston Martin commercial. The First comparison being that I was watching two sports cars driving around a mere empty city like a drag race and the latter that for some reason, Sam Mendes directed this scene with such fluidity and softness, even when the cars were nearly ramming each other at break neck speed or overtaking obstacles, that I felt like I was watching a commercial. It didn't feel rough or high octane, (especially after the initial helicopter scene) it was just some smooth scene as if Bond and Hinx were a married couple enjoying a carefree drive alongside each other. (With the few attempts to kill each other and a few alleyway smashes). Perhaps I need to watch that scene again to either correct my judgement or understand the creative decision better.
Now onto the other characters... first, let me order a drink... I think you know what I intend to order. It's a well known drink. Quoted by many. Enjoyed by the suavest of the suave and makes the ladies fall weak. "Hi, can I order a Panda Pop? Don't shake it, it'll explode all over my Crocs." - I'm trying to be funny. And I hate Crocs. ANYWAY... Moneypenny. Ok, so I get it. Its good to mix it up a little and switch things around and we are enjoying a very positive society that accepts all races, nationalities and creeds, we are seeing more diversity in films. And having Naomi Harris, a black actress as Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall and Spectre is fine, I have no qualms about it. .. except that she has NO charisma or charm that Miss Moneypenny should possess and her chemistry with Bond is extremely non existent. I've seen more chemistry between Jaw's teeth and a dentist.
So yeah... its so painful to watch her being all sassy and dull. Maybe she needs a couple more Bond outings to get into gear with her character.
Arch nemesis time... Its hard, unless you are a Wikipedia geek and enjoy reading the synopsis before you watch the film, I can't really go into detail about Franz Oberhauser, but I'll skim around the edges for you. Waltz as an actor, from largely being unknown to mainstream cinema goers when he featured in Inglorious Basterds has become a very reliant actor due to his characteristics, charisma, intensity and he plays a great bad guy.
So come Spectre, many, like me, were intrigued by how he will fare as the next villain, especially after Javier Bardem's riveting Silva in Skyfall.
Man, was I disappointed and three quarters! - Like Waltz' acting was fine. It was pretty damn good. Just... how do I put this... Just, pointless. Not the motive or his objectives but his execution. Most people who haven't seen the film have probably watched the trailer for Spectre and it shows Franz as some shadowy figure, ok, cool, I love stuff like that, a mysterious foe, he lurks in the rafters, he organsises chaos and destruction in a faceless pit of nothingness. I was excited by that concept and I wanted to NOT see his face until the final showdown.
But... well... yeah, the writers kind of gave up on that shadowy image about half way through the film and then showed us this Phillip Neville looking (no offense Christoph) overly talkative, miniature "creative, mad genius, scientist villain #233789" And he becomes another "I have you practically dying in front of my fully loaded gun, all it takes is for me to pull the trigger and your head will be like tomato paste against my curtains. But first... lets talk about inflation or something shall we?" moment where you know, he's only biding the time until Bond finds another way to escape his capture. I just didn't feel threatened by this villain, no matter what personal things he said about Bond or who he claimed he killed, I just didn't care and I looked at him and his eventual transformation to one of the classic characters... (I won't spoil, even if you know) and I just wanted to see more of Mr. Hinx. (And that wasn't because I'm a wrestling fan because, truth be told, I was never a Batista fan when he wrestled.)I'm sorry to mention this again, (If you've indeed read this far) But Skyfall really set the benchmark and Javier Bardem's villain was 100 times better.
I only have 10 seconds left of this bomb to finish writing this review, which is PERFECT amount of time, because we all know that 10 second countdowns in films are really 45 seconds with hundreds of cutaways.
Now the ending... Again, not giving anything away, but unless this film...sigh... continues onto the next film and ties loose ends, the ending felt flat to me. I'm not someone who wants fireworks and unbelievable explosions and gory deaths to end a film, but Skyfall ended on an emotional note. This film, had drama and a romantic fade out but felt like all we've seen and all that Bond was set out to do, including nearly guillotine hundreds of innocent bystanders at the beginning of the film, led to a pretty anticlimactic end. Now I did catch the reason why it ended that way due to a quote near the beginning of the film about agents choosing who lives and who dies, (did that give anything away? Hope not) but again, a pretty bland villain meets a pretty bland ending leaves a pretty bland taste in my mouth. (I lie, I was munching on Raspberry and Toffee popcorn and Wine Gums at the time, but I'm talking figuratively.)
Dag Namit! only 9 seconds left on the bomb... See? Plenty of time.
Look, the film was good, it looked stylish, had very beautiful Bond Girl who in my eyes, looked like a European and slightly hotter version of the American Actress Amy Smart from Road Trip and had great set pieces, beautiful locations and London looked pretty bad ass (sorry for saying that.) But Skyfall blows it out of the water. The latest Bond is just a Spectre in the Skyfall that is... oh I can't even be bothered to do play on words... this review will self destruct in....oh shit, wrong film.
SPECTRE: 4 toilet trips out of 5. (Toilet trips are bad!)
A more customer friendly rating: 3/5 stars.
- Benj (Writer for HowTheFuckDidYouGetThisJob?)
I have always been an avid Bond fan, and like many guys from my generation, my first inspiration to get me hooked was Goldeneye. A great film for nostalgia's sake, the classic characters, good villains and post cold war techie vibe to it (I am INVINCIBLE!!), and most importantly, the much-loved and revered N64 Goldeneye game which consumed many of us and helped launch a new wave of multiplayer action games that we know today.
Goldeneye impressed me and encouraged me to explore other Bond titles, previous ones and subsequent ones, and here we are with Spectre in 2015.
Ok, so excitement aside, after countless cologne, shaving, car and music adverts shilling the film, I finally got round to watching it with some friends...
But first, I would like to recap a tiny bit on the film that laid the foundations for Spectre... 'Skyfall'.
What I enjoyed about Skyfall was its intensity and humour working together in unison, there was a threat of danger with Javier Bardem's villain 'Silva' displaying a multifaceted character rich with humour, flamboyancy and intimidation, from his camp mannerisms and blonde hair right to his disfigured jawline and sinister execution of innocent people.
His backstory made sense as he felt rejected and deemed non existent by his former employers, MI6. He was once the super agent his superiors counted on to finish the job efficiently but it all went wrong for him when he got captured and had to endure taking a cyanide tablet that didn't kill him off. His story had mileage and made for some great interactions as he had history with Bond and a sort of unusual maternal or even affectionately awkward affiliation with Judi Dench's 'M' - He also had motive and you kind of liked him, he made you laugh, I enjoyed his unique method of interacting with Bond in a sort of homosexually teasing way, I enjoyed his laugh and his character altogether was a huge part of why Skyfall entertained me, I could watch a Spin-off of his character, he had charm and Javier's got great acting ability. Complimenting villains aside, the action sequences were intense and had a serious tone to them making it feel that THIS time, the threat is imminent, its believable and you know lives are at stake. The sub-story of M trying to convince the government that spies are very much still relevant and the world is in danger gave the film some emotion and gravitas. The humour was present too during the training scenes and the chemistry between M and Bond. And the ending of the film, without spoiling it for those who haven't watched the movie, proved that not all Bonds have predictable outcomes.
I'm digressing slightly, but you get my point, Skyfall, in my opinion, was awesome.
So Spectre. The next chapter had to impress me even more, and improve or at least surpass itself from Skyfall. Naturally, sequels or continuations in a series have that difficult task of exceeding expectations from a previously epic installment, and Spectre had that task.
Where Skyfall had those underlying themes of government control, threats to national security and technology paving the way more and more for future generations, previous Bond films provided you with a sense of escapism where you were whisked off to foreign exotic locations and the villains were cartoonish and Bond's bosses/colleagues were far less serious, it felt as if Bond had more leeway with his actions and the humour was how he got away with certain things much to the chagrin of his co-workers and peers. Skyfall felt more realistic, gritty and raw, it gave you a subject we can all relate to such as politics, war on terror, cyber terrorism, data protection and our safety, even the locations seemed far more recogniseable and closer to home which made the action scenes feel more intimate and suspenseful.
So come Spectre and I knew that it would follow on from Skyfall and tie up some loose ends but I was hoping it would then venture off into familiar Bond territory again with gadgets, beautiful women, cheesy lines and unnecessary locations to retrieve answers just for the sake of random locations quota. For example, going all the way to Mount Everest, climb it, nearly die several times, get frost bite, become miraculously healed by a native mountain babe and reach the very top only to meet a computer hacker who then tells them to go back to London. (That was an exaggerated and fictional example, but you know what I mean.) But besides a few scenes dotted about, this film decided to play a similar story arch to the previous film and involve politics again and inside conspiracy within the government and London being the backdrop again. Sure Bond is British and London looks awesome in these films which I'm sure generates a ton of new interest for tourists and the like but I don't want to watch Bond and be reminded of Spooks or Homeland or Mission Impossible or the news. I want to watch Bond because a man with a uni-brow and a fake hip called Mr. One Brow wants to decimate the world with his new laser, not watch a string of new politically minded Bond films where Bond is being cautioned in every scene and the audience is watching the governmental characters opine that spies are unnecessary. The villains should be the ones stroking the cat and laughing hysterically at destruction, not the suited pen pushers in parliament. But I guess my last statement may resonate with people due to the current disdain towards our government and politics in real life. But still, even though I am an analyst at heart, for Bond films, I want to suspend my disbelief, and while Skyfall intrigued me with its grittier approach and its closer-to-home content, I was ready to move on to new ideas.
The film started off incredibly strong with an opening scene during a celebration of the dead with Bond disguised under a voodoo mask and suavely wandering up to a hotel suite with a woman in his arms only to scout the neighboring buildings with intent to extract or obtain information. ..
(From this point in this article, I won't give away any more detailed descriptions of each scene I write about because if you've seen the film then you will know what I'm talking about and if you haven't then you won't want to be spoiled.)
The whole scene was aggressive, tense and got you right into the action. The helicopter scene, in my opinion made me shake my head at times, not only for the nauseating camerawork which is no complaint as it made me feel like I was in the helicopter itself which is a compliment to the direction, but because Bond, the good guy, whether he defies orders or not, is a bit of a womaniser or is a maverick, should not make you feel like he couldn't give a damn about ordinary human lives. I felt the same way in Goldeneye where Brosnan's bond would practically destroy a town with a tank. YES, I want to suspend my disbelief, but at the same time, I can't help but feel sorry for a historic town being trampled on by a tank and thinking (too deeply albeit) about how much destruction can cause chaos and oppression for the citizens. Unless the bad guys are causing the chaos and destruction, which is a pretty simple and logical explanation and detail, the good guys shouldn't be the ones causing more damage and conflict unprompted or without a more humane execution. The same could be said for this opening scene. Bond wants to obtain something from this guy who is escaping in a helicopter, sure that's cool, the fight looked great, but then he starts pummeling the pilot, who's operating a helicopter with rotating blades directly over HUNDREDS of innocent people, why the hell doesn't he point a gun at the pilot and get him to fly somewhere where no civilian casualties will occur and then batter the ever living crap out of the dude. I know Bond eventually wanted to commandeer the helicopter himself and fly off into the sunset leading to Sam Smith's "Writing on the wall" title sequence, but I couldn't help but think, "Jesus, Bond, what the f**k you doing? People can be seriously hurt here" and you don't want to feel like that about a good guy and especially at the beginning of the film. But I guess, for dramatic effect, it did its job successfully.
So that was my first gripe. But, all in all, that scene was pretty sharp (Helicopter blades pun intended) and got you pumped for the next scenes.
So what made me talk fondly about Skyfall at the beginning of this article when discussing Spectre? Well, after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Skyfall helped to establish the new rebooted Daniel Craig version of Bond as the bond we have known for years. We needed a reboot, we needed a backstory, Casino Royale established the origins of why he doesn't trust many people, why he can't/won't fall in love anymore etc, right through to Skyfall where it showed his roots where he grew up and his close connection with M and they reintroduced certain characters like Moneypenny (which I will get to a bit later) and a much younger, more technologically affluent and relatable 'Q' as well as some new characters that will be part of the franchise. So up to Skyfall, it felt Craig's Bond was repackaged, reintroduced and ready to dive into the world of suave agent. But Spectre, (which may be Craig's final Bond outing or maybe the penultimate,) instead continues to establish Craig's version of Bond even further, so we are still figuring him out, we are still exploring his relationship with his job and if spies are necessary and if he is a good man with a tormented soul etc. And if rumours are true that Spectre is Craig's potential last film, then I kind of wanted him to be a complete character ready to spurt out some cheesy quips, sleep with a woman and never say goodbye and find unique ways to thwart the latest adversary. And I felt Spectre took its damn time to get to that point in parts of the film.
Moving suavely on to some of the action scenes. If you remember such classic Bond action scenes from the 60's, 70's and 80's such as Moonraker, then the action by today's standards looks dated, awkward and monotonous, most audiences could figure out the choreography move by move because it wasn't exactly thrilling hand to hand combat, free running, parkour or Mixed Martial Arts that we expect from modern Bonds or from the Bourne franchise. This isn't a knock on previous Bond predecessor's like Connery, Dalton or Moore but mentality in cinema is completely different nowadays than it once was, the lead actors are doing more and more stunts, they train for months beforehand on various combat skills and maneuvers and that is why contemporary films of this generation look far more realistic, because the actors are doing most of what we are seeing and look like they are getting their asses handed to them in the process.
Past Bond films had more comedy to the fight scenes and were done with a certain style, friendliness and old school bravado, the last two decades from Brosnan to Craig have upped the ante and added more finesse to the fight sequences, employed actual MMA fighters as characters and the villains aren't just gimmicky foes who sit on a swiveling chair and press a button, they are now displayed as more legitimate threats. So Spectre delivers in every sense of the word, action, brutality and violence. Bautista's 'Mr. Hinx' character is a silent but very deadly assassin and looks menacing in every scene, he harkens back to enjoyable vintage villains such as Jaws or Oddjob. Too bad Mr. Hinx came across as too memorable and intimidating compared to the actual main villain 'Franz Oberhauser' played by Christoph Waltz which I will touch upon more, a bit later too.
Sorry, I was distracted by a scantily clad women emerging from the depths of the ocean in a white bikini... where was I? Ah, the action in Spectre. So yes, the fights were orchestrated very well and Mr. Hinx was definitely cast accurately. My next gripe as it were, was the first car chase between Bond and Hinx. Besides a few comic moments that Bond fans have become all too familiar with in the franchise, I'm not sure about anyone else, but I felt like I was watching Fast & the Furious meets an Aston Martin commercial. The First comparison being that I was watching two sports cars driving around a mere empty city like a drag race and the latter that for some reason, Sam Mendes directed this scene with such fluidity and softness, even when the cars were nearly ramming each other at break neck speed or overtaking obstacles, that I felt like I was watching a commercial. It didn't feel rough or high octane, (especially after the initial helicopter scene) it was just some smooth scene as if Bond and Hinx were a married couple enjoying a carefree drive alongside each other. (With the few attempts to kill each other and a few alleyway smashes). Perhaps I need to watch that scene again to either correct my judgement or understand the creative decision better.
Now onto the other characters... first, let me order a drink... I think you know what I intend to order. It's a well known drink. Quoted by many. Enjoyed by the suavest of the suave and makes the ladies fall weak. "Hi, can I order a Panda Pop? Don't shake it, it'll explode all over my Crocs." - I'm trying to be funny. And I hate Crocs. ANYWAY... Moneypenny. Ok, so I get it. Its good to mix it up a little and switch things around and we are enjoying a very positive society that accepts all races, nationalities and creeds, we are seeing more diversity in films. And having Naomi Harris, a black actress as Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall and Spectre is fine, I have no qualms about it. .. except that she has NO charisma or charm that Miss Moneypenny should possess and her chemistry with Bond is extremely non existent. I've seen more chemistry between Jaw's teeth and a dentist.
So yeah... its so painful to watch her being all sassy and dull. Maybe she needs a couple more Bond outings to get into gear with her character.
Arch nemesis time... Its hard, unless you are a Wikipedia geek and enjoy reading the synopsis before you watch the film, I can't really go into detail about Franz Oberhauser, but I'll skim around the edges for you. Waltz as an actor, from largely being unknown to mainstream cinema goers when he featured in Inglorious Basterds has become a very reliant actor due to his characteristics, charisma, intensity and he plays a great bad guy.
So come Spectre, many, like me, were intrigued by how he will fare as the next villain, especially after Javier Bardem's riveting Silva in Skyfall.
Man, was I disappointed and three quarters! - Like Waltz' acting was fine. It was pretty damn good. Just... how do I put this... Just, pointless. Not the motive or his objectives but his execution. Most people who haven't seen the film have probably watched the trailer for Spectre and it shows Franz as some shadowy figure, ok, cool, I love stuff like that, a mysterious foe, he lurks in the rafters, he organsises chaos and destruction in a faceless pit of nothingness. I was excited by that concept and I wanted to NOT see his face until the final showdown.
But... well... yeah, the writers kind of gave up on that shadowy image about half way through the film and then showed us this Phillip Neville looking (no offense Christoph) overly talkative, miniature "creative, mad genius, scientist villain #233789" And he becomes another "I have you practically dying in front of my fully loaded gun, all it takes is for me to pull the trigger and your head will be like tomato paste against my curtains. But first... lets talk about inflation or something shall we?" moment where you know, he's only biding the time until Bond finds another way to escape his capture. I just didn't feel threatened by this villain, no matter what personal things he said about Bond or who he claimed he killed, I just didn't care and I looked at him and his eventual transformation to one of the classic characters... (I won't spoil, even if you know) and I just wanted to see more of Mr. Hinx. (And that wasn't because I'm a wrestling fan because, truth be told, I was never a Batista fan when he wrestled.)I'm sorry to mention this again, (If you've indeed read this far) But Skyfall really set the benchmark and Javier Bardem's villain was 100 times better.
I only have 10 seconds left of this bomb to finish writing this review, which is PERFECT amount of time, because we all know that 10 second countdowns in films are really 45 seconds with hundreds of cutaways.
Now the ending... Again, not giving anything away, but unless this film...sigh... continues onto the next film and ties loose ends, the ending felt flat to me. I'm not someone who wants fireworks and unbelievable explosions and gory deaths to end a film, but Skyfall ended on an emotional note. This film, had drama and a romantic fade out but felt like all we've seen and all that Bond was set out to do, including nearly guillotine hundreds of innocent bystanders at the beginning of the film, led to a pretty anticlimactic end. Now I did catch the reason why it ended that way due to a quote near the beginning of the film about agents choosing who lives and who dies, (did that give anything away? Hope not) but again, a pretty bland villain meets a pretty bland ending leaves a pretty bland taste in my mouth. (I lie, I was munching on Raspberry and Toffee popcorn and Wine Gums at the time, but I'm talking figuratively.)
Dag Namit! only 9 seconds left on the bomb... See? Plenty of time.
Look, the film was good, it looked stylish, had very beautiful Bond Girl who in my eyes, looked like a European and slightly hotter version of the American Actress Amy Smart from Road Trip and had great set pieces, beautiful locations and London looked pretty bad ass (sorry for saying that.) But Skyfall blows it out of the water. The latest Bond is just a Spectre in the Skyfall that is... oh I can't even be bothered to do play on words... this review will self destruct in....oh shit, wrong film.
SPECTRE: 4 toilet trips out of 5. (Toilet trips are bad!)
A more customer friendly rating: 3/5 stars.
- Benj (Writer for HowTheFuckDidYouGetThisJob?)