The new James Bond movie “Spectre” was a
disappointment. I watched it over the
Thanksgiving Weekend. After all of the
hype that surrounded the movie, and the trailer was superb: mysterious and
captivating, I went into the movie theater with a great expectation to be blown
away. After all, “Skyfall” blew me away with its superb storytelling, actors’
performances, action scenes, unique baddy played by Javier Bardem, and
unpredictable ending; I am still reeling from that movie. In contrast,
“Spectre” was none of those qualities.
In fact, “Spectre” was a composite-movie of most of all old
James Bond movies. Firstly, the beginning of the movie in Mexico City had only
one great action of blasting of the building that refused to collapse and a
baddy coming out of it with limited injuries. The parade of the ‘dead’ on the
Day of All Saints reminded me of a scene (I believe it was with Sean Connery)
in New Orleans and its lively parade. In addition, the chase scene was
interesting by so over-used in many other movies. I liked the battle in
helicopter. It looked familiar yet it had its own novelty.
Second, the credit scene with Sam Smith’s opening song and
sexual dancing affair reminded me of Pierce Brosnan’s James Bonds. Sam Smith’s
song was subpar and boring. Thirdly, Christoph Waltz’s baddy was reminiscent of
bad guys of Sean Connery’s James Bonds: sophisticated and edgy but not as
interesting or juicy as Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) in “Skyfall”. And the whole
Spectre organization with its secluded and secret headquarters and with its
egomaniacal boss reminded me more of “Skyfall” again. Mr. Waltz’s character was
not as juicy, not unique, and not interesting. In fact, I lost interest in
Oberhauser from the moment the character showed up in the movie for the first
time in Rome. By the way, the car chase in Rome was badass, especially when
James Bond decided to catapult away and sink the stolen car in Tiber. Last, but
not least, the chase scene in the Alps (James Bond on a plane and bad guys in
cars) was interesting but reminded me of another cooler chase scene down the
mountain slope on skis in one of earlier James Bond movies (I believe it was
with Roger Moore).
Overall, “Spectre” could’ve been better. However, with so
many James Bond movies over the years, repetition is inevitable especially when
creators want to connect the newer and re-imagined James Bond movies with its
predecessors. I would give credit to Daniel Craig. He sold to us that he is
James Bond. Surely, he has been less charming and sophisticated. However, he
made it his own James Bond. He made it fresh. I remember when many of the James
Bond fans were not convinced by Mr. Craig’s James Bond and maybe many still
believe he is the worst James Bond. However, I wholeheartedly disagree. This
new James Bond was raw, real, motivated, and focused. Yes, at times, he looked
more like Jason Bourne (Bourne series) or Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible
series), but that what made him unique to create these fabulous origin
tales. And as James Bond in “Spectre”
drove away from Q’s headquarters in classical Aston Martin DB5, it could be
surmised that the origin stories are over, and now, James Bond will be that
classical Bond that we have been used to before Daniel Craig. We don’t know if
we’ll have another James Bond and whether Daniel Craig will reprise his role,
but we know he made four movies that have been a joy to watch and see Bonds’
development as a guy you never want to cross in any generation, except of
course if you are a lady.
