SPECTRE

You interrupt my work, I destroy your world.

So, you know how The Dark Knight Rises connected the two previous films, and how Winter Soldier revealed that Hydra controlled pretty much everything? Well, Spectre is kind of a mix of that. Connecting the story of the four films and uniting the villains under one banner. The evil organisation known as Spectre.

Spectre opens with a scene fairly similar to Skyfall. But instead of biking across the rooftops of Istanbul, 007 hunts a man through Mexico City as celebrations for the Day of the Dead go on around him. As it turns out, the man 007 is hunting is connected to Spectre. I won’t go into to many more details about the plot, seeing as it was only shown to the world a few hours ago.

I will say this though, while it has good moments, action-packed shootouts and a surprisingly funny car chase between 007 and the silent assassin played by Dave Bautista, Spectre’s plot gets slightly drawn out by the length of the movie. Which, at 2 ½ hours, is pretty long. And it does take a while for things to get going. But unlike most action films out there these days, it does have an actual plot. One that works, one that’s simple, and one that it sticks to. Even if it could be improved.

The second thing people expect from the next Bond movie is the Bond girls. Having just re-watched Casino Royale and remembering the less-than-average Quantum of Solace, Spectre falls into the routine which Skyfall thankfully avoided. The first Bond girl comes and goes and leaves no mark on the plot what so ever. She’s just there because she has to be. And like Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, later in the film we are introduced to the second bond girl. This time the Bond girl, whose name, even though I’ve just got back from seeing the film, I’ve already forgotten, does actually impact the plot. In Spectre’s case quite heavily. Much like Vesper did in Casino Royale.

The rest of the cast rounds out the movie pretty well. All the faces from Skyfall return, although thankfully this time Q gets a bit more screen time. Daniel Craig returns as Bond (obviously), and is square-jawed and head-strong as ever. While his recent comments about playing Bond gave me the impression this portrayal wouldn’t be as good as his others, Craig gives it his all. And it pays off. Although, it is probably time someone else took up the role.

As for the other team, we are introduced to a new villain, played by the ever-evil Christoph Waltz. Who, as expected, pulled off the part of the creepy and crazy villain perfectly. Spectre introduces a villain who knows 007, something that comes to haunt him very quickly. I guess you really should keep your enemies closer.

Sherlock’s Andrew Scott joins the cast as well, as the man 007 comes to call ‘C’. And yes, that does lead to quite a funny joke down the line.

As with the other three films in the rebooted franchise, the movie is filled with explosions and mayhem. Although not to a Michael Bay-like level. The stunts look as good as ever, especially the helicopter chase/fight at the start of the film.

While Sam Smith’s ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ may have divided fans upon release, it fits the overall tone of Spectre really well. To add to this, the opening credits are some of the series’ best. Plus, the lyrics don’t get overly repetitive like in Skyfall.

The last thing I’ll say about Spectre is this: It’s definitely better than the first two. But is it better than Skyfall? For now I’ll have to put them on an equal footing. They’re both personal stories in 007’s eyes, and it’s this closeness to Bond that sets them out from the other movies.

So yeah. Explosions, shoot outs all that stuff. Same old same old. But like I said, Spectre and Skyfall share a common denominator: These stories are close to Bond. This makes him on edge, and us with him. And having Christoph Waltz play the villain only makes things better. But it is dragged down by its run time, and the fact that just too much of the film is a reference to the old ones. But on the whole, another great Bond film.

7/10