It really is a shame that Daniel Craig doesn’t love playing James Bond as much as I love watching him play James Bond. I mean that. I really enjoy Craig’s Bond. In the eternal argument of who is the best Bond ever, the two names that come up most often are Sean Connery and Craig. But for me, it’s Craig. Hands down.
Spectre, in many ways, serves as a testament as to how talented Craig is in the role: that even in a run-of-the-mill and by-the-numbers Bond movie, Daniel Craig still manages to give the character a sense of real weight and purpose.
Spectre is by no means a bad movie. It’s well-directed by Sam Mendes, shot beautifully by Hoyte Van Hoytema and mostly acted well not only by Craig but by a game supporting cast. In this outing, James Bond is picking up where we left off in Skyfall.
He’s facing a bureaucratic threat to dispatch the double 0 program, still reeling from certain losses felt in that movie and putting together a mystery that links the occurrences and baddies in Skyfall, Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale to a mysterious organization known as SPECTRE and its shadowy leader Oberhaus (Christoph Waltz).
I must say, I was a little disappointed coming out of this film only by virtue that it wasn’t as good as its predecessor. Though, disappointment isn’t this movie’s only problem. One of the things right out of the gate that threw me for a loop with this movie are the amount of callbacks to Quantum of Solace.
While I understand that with Craig’s Bond films, the filmmakers are trying to build continuity and not just stay episodic, isolated incidences, but in this incidence that may have been a mistake. However, calling back to easily one of the most confusing, boring and disliked movies in the entire franchise is never a smart idea.
The fact that a movie whose title I sometimes can’t remember, let alone the plot, is so integral in this film became really problematic. To me the measure of any Bond film, as is the case with any film, is by how good the villain is.
Remember how violent and creepy Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre was in Casino Royale? Remember how bizzarely sensual and cruelly violent Javier Bardem’s Raul Silva was in Skyfall? Remember how Gert Frobe’s Goldfinger in the film of the same name almost bested Connery’s Bond and uttered the famous line, “I expect you to die!�
Oberhaus has none of those moments. That’s not to say that Oberhaus doesn’t have his moments. The introduction of the character visually feels like something out of a Fritz Lang movie. He’s encased in shadow, he doesn’t say a word, but every character’s silent reaction to his presence lets the audience know we should be scared of him.
But then something curious happens. Waltz disappears from the screen almost completely and only comes back in three extended sequences. The biggest shame of this movie is that it undercuts one of the great character actors from working today in a role in which he should be able to chew the scenery to bits and he does almost nothing resembling that.
It should also be mentioned that there is a sort of half-twist that the writers attempt to do with this character. Honestly, if you can’t see the twist coming from a mile away then this movie might be your first Bond adventure.
Still, all that being said, I actually think that I would recommend this movie. But with one cavet: don’t expect anything at the level of Skyfall. This movie feels closer in tone to the later Connery Bond movies and the early Roger Moore movies.
The stunts, the opening action sequence in particular, are great. The Bond women – Lea Seydoux and Monica Belluci – are both given their eye-candy moments, but are treated with a certain respect and dignity. Neither are fools. Seydoux in particular gets to kick a fair amount of bad guy behind as well.
Ralph Fiennes as M is a lot of fun and a great fit in the franchise. Ben Whishaw’s Q is very wry, understated and funny. Naomie Harris’s Moneypenny is fun, cool, and Bond’s equal. And then we get to Craig, who treats this character so earnestly and treats the material so seriously that the end result is a marvel.
Spectre is worth your time, but it is nowhere near being the best Bond in the franchise. But it’s not a bad way to spend an evening at the movies.
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief