Cult-Movie Review: Spectre (2015)

[Warning: Major spoilers abound. Swim at your own risk.]

“There are two” James Bonds, a character notes in the 2015 film, Spectre. This trenchant observation is likely as good a place as any to commence a review of the latest film in a cherished line that goes back to Dr. No in 1962. 

Spectre is the fourth entry to star Daniel Craig-- a direct follow-on from Skyfall (2012) --  and it is a film that is simultaneously not all I hoped it would be, and yet nonetheless of a better quality than many online reviews suggest.

It’s not a bad Bond film (like Diamonds are Forever [1971], A View to A Kill [1985], or Die Another Day [2002]), for certain.

But nor does Spectre ascend to the top tier of 007 cinema, which by my estimation includes From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Licence to Kill (1989) and Casino Royale (2006).

Instead, this 2015 007 installment falls somewhere in the middle of the two-dozen strong pack. It lands, perhaps, twelve or so films down from the top. 

It’s not bad, yet Spectre is still a disappointment, especially given the success of the Bond films in the Craig Era.

Thematically, Spectre revolves around the idea of the two James Bonds; the man that 007 is now (a determined, grim assassin), versus the man he could be (one who takes a chance on life and love, and thus leaves MI6 behind).

Or perhaps the 'two James Bonds' are the man that Bond turned out to be (loyal to queen and country) versus the man he could have been -- Ernst Stavro Blofeld -- one loyal only to himself and his personal ambitions. One scene certainly seems to suggest this latter possibility when Blofeld’s face is reflected or superimposed over Bond’s visage.

The men share a common history, so how did they turn out to be such polar opposites?

Lacking your strong sense of duty, Mr. Bond, you would have been the villain in this particular story, not the hero…

The leitmotif of the “two” James Bonds co-existing in one man is intriguing, for certain, yet is not quite enough to recommend Spectre as an unqualified success. 

Although Craig is again excellent as our 007 in the age of serialized Bond movies, overall Spectre feels like it might be missing a reel or two.

Specifically -- and despite its two-and-half-hour running time -- Spectre seems bound and determined to rush through all its best, most compelling moments, and dwell instead, inside its weakest, most uninspiring ones.

Production values remain impressive, and some moments in Spectre practically pulsate with a sense of the diabolical or sinister. There is real tension in this film, and that quality is worth noting.

Yet when it’s all through, one feels that opportunities have missed, especially since this is the first Bond film of the modern age to put all the pieces -- heroes, supporting characters, and a familiar villain -- in place.

“If you go there, you will cross into a place where there is no mercy.”

On an unauthorized mission to Mexico City, James Bond -- 007 (Daniel Craig) -- assassinates a man named Sciarra. He learns that Sciarra was a member of a secret organization of criminals and terrorists called Spectre.

While M (Ralph Fiennes) grapples with an unctuous underling named C (Andrew Scott) who wishes to scuttle the 00 program and replace it with a vast surveillance state, Bond attempts to infiltrate Spectre in Rome and learn the truth about it

The leader of Spectre, Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), turns out to be someone from Bond’s past, and this revelation sends Bond one of the most dangerous and personal missions of his career.

 “The dead are alive.”

Spectre opens with a dazzling and highly effective pre-title sequence.

In this case, I’m not referring specifically to the looping helicopter stunts, but rather to the background detail. We watch as Daniel Craig (no stunt doubles, thank you…) strides out on a high hotel ledge, and approaches a target in Mexico City. 

All around him (or rather far, far below him…) are the revelers at the Day of the Dead celebration. The execution of this composition is absolutely exhilarating. In all the Bond catalog, there has rarely been as persuasive or truly spectacular a shot. 

As Spectre opens, we see our hero in the foreground of the frame, moving over a veritable tide of humanity, and at a very dangerous altitude to boot. There’s no trickery or gimmickry involved, just the authentic thrill of seeing our man, 007 on a mission in the (very) real world.  The tide of movie history is to make the theatrical more naturalistic, the artificial more real, or gritty. This shot -- of Craig in real environs -- takes James Bond quite far down that path way. 007 is no longer a superhero or comic book hero living in a rarefied fantasy world (think: Moonraker), but a man in reality as we understand it.

The successful (and jaw-dropping) imagery of this pre-title sequence is, however, quickly undercut by the opening credits montage and song, “The Writing’s on the Wall.”  

Standing independently of one another, both the montage and the song would qualify as uniformly dreadful, as series low-points. As a combo, they veritably drive Spectre into a brick wall. The images and sounds, the movement and the lyrics, simply don’t blend together well at all, and in conjunction this melange represent the audience’s first recognition that something is amiss, that something has gone wrong from an artistic standpoint.  Our sense are shaken, not stirred, by a creative misstep.

Alas, again and again Spectre seems to repeat this pattern; hopping from victory to defeat and back again. 

For instance, a mobster widow (Monica Bellucci) is introduced in an impressive early scene. She is smoldering, gorgeous, and in desperate need of…rescue. James Bond obliges, and the sparks fly between the two characters.  

The implication is that this character -- Lucia Sciarra -- is a match for Bond in terms of wit and cunning. Like him, she lacks idealism. Like him, she knows exactly what their encounter signifies.

Yet Sciarra appears in the movie for precisely two scenes and then is never mentioned or seen again. She doesn't even get a death scene so she could qualify as the film's sacrificial lamb. This is a criminal, inexcusable waste of a remarkable actress, and a fascinating character.

The new Bond girl, Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) looks like a callow child after we've met the widow. And this vapid youngster -- we are asked to believe -- is special enough to make Bond quit the service. 

If there were no other compelling love interests in the film, that might be a plausible outcome. But after the delectable Bellucci’s glorified cameo, the invidious comparisons are inescapable. Sciarra is not only in Bond’s age group, but also, clearly, someone who, like him, has lived life and sees it in a similar fashion.

What's the case for Swann being someone that Bond leaves the service for? 

Why is she more a match for him than, say, Octopussy ("we're two of a kind"), or Melina Havelock, or Solitaire, or any other lover he has taken over the years?

Spectre doesn't make an affirmative case that Swann is "The One" that could change Bond. Oppositely, it makes a case that Sciarra is far more intriguing a personality.  

Still, I liked the plot twist near the end of the film. Swann realizes that Bond will never change and walks away from him, and the relationship.  That's a new wrinkle in the series, the Bond Girl seeing 007 with open eyes, and choosing not to have a fling with him.

As I wrote above, Spectre keeps making the same sort of mistake: introducing a fascinating person or location, and then dropping it like a hot potato. 

After much intrigue, for example, it is discovered that Blofeld has erected a magnificent headquarters in the African desert. From there, he can see the world!  Bond and Swann make a trek there, but after just two or three scenes, Bond blows up the whole installation with a few well-placed shots…the whole bloomin’ thing.

Now imagine if 007 had found Blofeld’s volcano in You Only Live Twice, and instead of exploring that location for awhile, he just destroyed it after about ten minutes.

That wouldn’t feel very satisfying would it? 

Indeed, the destruction of Blofeld’s headquarters in Spectre feels cursory, like an after-thought.  It’s as if the film’s writers have given absolutely no thought, whatsoever, to this location, and how it could be used in the plot.  Instead, it is introduced only to be destroyed, moments later.  

What a waste of some impressive sets. 

What a waste of a villainous headquarters.

By contrast, I should point out, Spectre absolutely features some effective moments.  

After the Widow Sciarra incident, Bond infiltrates a meeting of Spectre in Rome, a very old city.  The architecture suggests age, antiquity, and the idea that such predators upon society have always existed, historically-speaking.  

Then we are introduced to Blofeld, and for his first several moments on camera, he sits with a shroud of darkness obscuring his face.  He is only a silhouette, a shadow, a...spectre.  This sequence feels legitimately suspenseful, and dangerous.  Bond is privy to a world with “no mercy,” a world that few have witnessed, and Blofeld is built up as a real threat; one who draws his powers from the very sinister world he inhabits. 

Later we see Waltz in the role, and the (impressive) actors plays the role far too lightly for my taste. Once Blofeld comes out of the shadows, the fear and terror subsides, and we are left watching an effeminate man wearing loafers and no socks.  He is too much Charles Gray, and not enough Donald Pleasence for my taste.

Later, of course, there is a revelation that ties Bond and Blofeld together. 

They aren’t genetically related (thank goodness…) but they did live together under the same roof for a spell.  

I have read exaggerated reviews which suggest this new origin for Blofeld destroys the entire Craig Era.  

I disagree, but by the same token, I feel that no such “personal” connection is necessary to establish the animosity or, even, really, the link between the two characters. It’s a genuine weakness of storytelling -- a short-cut to thinking -- that Blofeld needs, on his first encounter, to already hate and despise James Bond. 

No, this plot doesn’t ruin the Craig Era. But it sure feels like a blatant and cheap way to manipulate audience emotions. Blofeld and Bond should be alike because they both traffic in the same world.  And because they both kill to achieve their ends. Bond’s ends, however, are not personal, and, in some way, pro-social.  Blofeld is quite the opposite. 

These facts could have been established without the film’s screenplay making them foster brothers, essentially, and their conflict one of filial resentment.

I suspect that Spectre is the pinnacle and final chapter of the Craig Era.  

Why? 

For one thing, there are numerous call-backs to the earlier films. The villains of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall are all seen momentarily, and name-checked at least once. There is mention of Vesper, too, and we even see her in the opening credits montage.

The debate over 21^st century espionage techniques -- raised in Skyfall (2012) -- is also continued here.  Finally, all the supporting characters -- Q (Ben Whislaw, Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and M (Ralph Fiennes) are fully integrated as useful team members. Blofeld is introduced too, and gets his scar (and his pussy).

So a new lead actor could come in, with all these ingredients in place, and take over as 007.  There’s part of me that hopes that’s the case. After nearly a decade of “serialized” Bonds, I would love someone to make a  one-off, lounge-lizard, Roger Moore-style stand-alone Bond film; one light and goofy just for the heck of it, but with the supporting team in place.

The other way it could go, and I would appreciate this too: sign Craig for two more Bonds (bringing his total up to six).  

Then, next up, remake On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, so that we see Craig's Bond falling in love, marrying, and clashing with Blofeld one more time before the tragic ending. Then, in his last film, the filmmakers could have Craig wreaking unholy vengeance on the murderer of his wife, and slip into the role of the cruel, callous, unemotional Bond. 

Craig should only stay in the role if he is willing to take that two-film journey, I feel, since Spectre has offered his Bond closure. 

In the original continuity, we lost the Bond we had identified with, Sean Connery's, just as the filmmakers depicted his most important adventure (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). Now that audiences have a powerful connection with Craig, and serialized story-telling is in vogue, let’s get the gang back together to vet the story of Bond’s marriage, and bloody aftermath.

Will that happen?  I don’t know. But the series needs refreshing after this entry. I will confess that the unstable, inconsistent nature of Spectre -- vacillating from good to bad and back again -- has shaken my confidence in the Bond filmmakers. 

The ‘two James Bonds’ is an intriguing conceit, but it shouldn’t be deployed to express a schizophrenic approach to storytelling, right?