MOVIE REVIEW: Spectre (2015)

Spectre (2015)

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Directed By: Sam Mendes 

This modern era of Bond has done something rather interesting that hasn't been done in the franchise until the inclusion of Daniel Craig. They have given his Bond an arch, he has been growing and changing through each and every one of his films with the events of each affecting the happenings of the next. After Skyfall broke all the molds and gave us an actual backstory on Bond in a movie that some of us see as one of the all-time best 007 movies we had no idea what to expect from the next installment. For the twenty fourth chapter in the James Bond franchise Sam Mendes (Skyfall) has returned to direct and Craig is back as the charismatic spy and they have brought a few new friends along for the ride. 

After the events of Skyfall the 007 sector of MI6 is under pressure from the government to prove their necessity going forward. The film opens on Bond in the middle of a mission in Mexico City, unexpected factors arise and his job goes south in a series of events that level an entire city block. After an insane fight in a helicopter over a large crowd of people the government finally decides to crack down on the MI6. With the 007 sector potentially seeing its final days Bond decides to operate outside the bounds of his governors and finally uncover the truth behind the global terrorist group SPECTRE. A mysterious message from an important member of his past sets him on the trail to finally discover the secrets behind this massive organization that has plagued them for too long. 

Spectre is a slow burn as far as Bond films goes, after Skyfall was two hours of almost non-stop action many audience members were expecting this next movie to be a lot of the same. This time around Mendes wasn't trying to dazzle us with huge action set pieces and life or death scenarios (though there are a few that are absolutely gorgeous) but rather give us a great story told within the boundaries of Ian Fleming's world. The most problematic aspect of this film is that the in depth story is almost relying on one last installment in the Daniel Craig era to fulfill what had been started here. The events that unfold in Spectre are left seemingly unfinished and if this is the end of Craig's Bond (as we have heard is a possibility) much of this movie will be for nothing. That being said, I found the story to be totally engaging and much of what is brought to the screen is catered to the fans of the franchise. 

A large factor in what makes these movies either great or not so great is the quality of the villain. From the beginning of the franchise the bad guy has always been a center of the 007 story lines and can always make or break a film. Last time around we were all dazzled by Javier Bardem's performance as one of the best Bond villains we have ever seen, so how do you top that? or at least try to? Well you go and get Academy Award winning actor Christoph Waltz, that's how. Playing the mysterious leader of SPECTRE Waltz turns in another fantastic performance, although he could have had a bit more screen time. The same could be said for his "Jaws"-esque henchmen Mr. Hinx played by Dave Bautista, a great callback to classic henchmen like Odd Job and Jaws he simply just wasn't used enough throughout the film. 

This may not be the most action packed movie in the franchise but it very well may be the best looking. Sam Mendes and company have created a gorgeous film to look at with amazing set pieces and location shooting. From the opening tracking shot all the way to the finale of the film the cinematography is incredibly beautiful.  Daniel Craig owns the part once again and further makes an argument that he is one of, if not the best Bond that there has ever been and after seeing this one I can only hope he gets one more turn to finish out this story. For the first time we are seeing a continuing story throughout multiple Bond films and it looks like it has all been leading to one crazy ending I can only hope we are fortunate enough to see.

If you are going into this film looking for a repeat of Skyfall then you will most likely be let down. Mendes didn't even try to make the same film over again and I respect him for doing so. Spectre is a great bridge between what we saw occur in the last film and what we will hopefully see in the next one a few years from now. There is often a lot of time between action sequences but if you can get into the story you will have no problem staying engaged for the entire two and a half hours. Despite a few minor flaws in the story and the lack of action Spectre is another great installment in the ever growing franchise with plenty of easter eggs for long time fans to have fun with. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!