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This has been a year filled with spy movies—from classic reboots to comic adventures and even graphic novel adaptations. And if you were looking for something bigger, more exciting, and a lot more fun from the latest Bond film, Spectre, you’ll most likely be disappointed.
Spectre once again finds Daniel Craig’s Bond in a dark and moody place. As MI6 merges with MI5, M (Ralph Fiennes) struggles to keep the program alive while his new boss, C (Andrew Scott), fights to bring the world’s security services together for worldwide surveillance. Of course, Bond’s tendency to race off on secret, unsanctioned missions isn’t helping matters. But when a message from an old friend leads Bond to discover a secret terrorist organization led by a familiar face, his colleagues step up to help foil their latest plan.
It seems as though there are just so many modern-day spy stories to be told—because the latest Bond adventure feels strangely familiar. Secret terrorist organizations, rogue spies, and disbanded programs were also the focus of this summer’s Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation. And while 007’s latest adventure is action-packed and often strikingly beautiful—with touches that are uniquely Bond—it isn’t the smart, thrilling installment that fans have been hoping to see. It’s big and bold and timely, too. It just isn’t especially remarkable.
Spectre is filled with missed opportunities. Though the story builds on some of the more personal storylines of 2012’s Skyfall, those aspects are underdeveloped and underused. And while Christoph Waltz is wonderfully, quietly sinister as the mysterious Franz Oberhauser, he plays a disappointingly small part. Sure, there’s still plenty of eye-catching action. In fact, the film opens with a shootout, exploding buildings, and a struggle inside an airborne helicopter—all during a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City. There are beautiful women, cool cars, creepy henchmen, and plenty of sly witticisms, too. But it’s missing something—its heart, perhaps. Maybe its sense of fun. Whatever the case, though, very little here is able to outshine the film’s stunning settings—from modern to ancient, natural to manmade.
Craig has been pretty outspoken in recent interviews, announcing that he’s tired of the role—and the character, too. And it’s clear from his latest effort that he’s all but checked out. His performance has its moments—but, for the most part, it feels half-hearted. And while he’s taken the character in new and exciting directions, Spectre may have taken it all just a step too far.
The Bond franchise is clearly experiencing an identity crisis, struggling to stay timely and relevant while holding on to the classic elements that keep fans coming back for more, buying tickets and Blu-rays and fancy collectors’ sets. Spectre is still an entertaining action film, but it has neither the fun of classic installments nor the depth of more recent installments. And it seems that the franchise may be in need of another attitude adjustment.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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