The film “Skyfall” set the bar high for Daniel Craig’s James Bond. “Spectre” is a solid followup, an enjoyable film that takes the familiar martini of a Bond flick and stirs in an extra dollop of stunning cinematography. It’s also a film that expects you to be paying attention, so save your popcorn crunching for the action sequences.
The story attempts to tie all of Craig’s Bond films together in a loose conspiracy by bringing the international crime syndicate Spectre (last seen in “Diamonds are Forever”) into the mix. Bond chases clues all over the planet, eventually asking for the help of one Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). She helps him close in on his enemies, and (in a pleasantly startling moment) winds up saving his life along the way.
Meanwhile, M (Ralph Fiennes) has to deal with an effort to merge MI5 and MI6 and then join the new, unified British Intelligence service to a network of intelligence agencies in several other countries. When it’s revealed that this network will make the surveillance data of all its member countries available to all member countries, it becomes clear that this is not something M can allow to happen. Of course, the fact that the whole enterprise is spearheaded by a fellow played by Andrew Scott in full “Sherlock” Moriarty mode offers a clue as well.
Craig’s Bond films have been less misogynist than his predecessors’ and Dr. Swann is another step in the right direction. Seydoux works with what the script gives her and makes Madeleine complex and believable. Craig continues to give us a rough-around-the-edges Bond, a man who is most at home when he’s alone and in desperate, violent situations. He can fake it in a fancy tux at a civilized, posh event, but he’s at his best when it comes to saving the day through sheer willpower and luck.
The action sequences are glorious — there’s a fight scene in a train between Bond and the enormous Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista, last seen as Drax in “Guardians of the Galaxy”) that is worth the price of admission all on its own. There are car chases and shootouts galore, but also long, quiet stretches of building tension as the plot’s layers continue to accumulate.
Christoph Waltz is criminally underused, but the secondary characters we already know are around and at their best. Q (Ben Whishaw) gets to have an adventure outside his lab, Fiennes proves himself a reasonably worthy successor to Dame Judi Dench, and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) appears to actually have a social life outside of work. She suggests that Bond consider trying it, but we all know how that tends to go.
“Spectre” is a fun ride, a good entry in Craig’s Bond canon. It’s a bit intense at points for its PG-13 rating, so parents will probably want to watch it before letting younger children check it out (remember the torture scene in “Casino Royale”? The one in “Spectre” is less genitally-oriented, but includes some pretty graphic bone drill action). It’s also probably not a great introduction to Bond if you haven’t seen at least one of Craig’s Bond films.
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Ealasaid A. Haas is a local film buff and freelance writer. Contact her at reviewer@ealasaid.com or check out her website: ealasaid.com.
