SPECTRE Re-tread, Instead Needs to Be Re-Vitalized.

Rating: Null/10 (19 November 2015)

Welcome back to Bond the Tool! Episode IV. First off, be thankful. This is not the joke-y Irreverent Bond. Nor the serious Reformed Bond. No this is the Bond that's trying to get the character of Bond to fit in with everything modern. It's where the production staff tries to explain Bond to an audience that doesn't know the lore, but likes a good action film.
This isn't a good action film. But it is an okay reboot.
James Bond (Daniel Craig) causes a mess in Mexico City - a really big mess - in an unauthorized attempt to assassinate a terrorist thug that doesn't register on any MI6 lists. This comes at a time when MI6 is being consolidated with MI5, and British Intelligence is undergoing a change to British Surveillance. The mess is diplomatic as well as politically embarrassing. During the mission, however, James stumbles upon an organization called SPECTRE that seems very well connected; headed by a previously unknown villain, that makes this battle personal.
As they have in all of the reboots, the writers (there were a lot of them), producers (even more) and director (Sam Mendes) get rid of some of the more silly compromises made some fifty odd years ago. In this film, James is labeled an "Assassin". As strange as it may seem considering that was part of the character's job, the producers in the past would not let James Bond be called that, for, idk, maybe to be considered more likable. They also give Blofeld a history, which was always a mistake that needed to be resolved. And they modernize SPECTRE, giving it a purpose and a function that seems believable.
But what the production staff failed to do was give the story an excitement or an urgency that many of the great Bond films in the past had. Although the SPECTRE storyline is topical, and the Blofeld re-telling becomes personal, neither has the necessary appeal to bring tension to this film. Not once was I on the edge of my seat, as I was sometimes with Skyfall. The filmmakers have the settings correct, but not the payoffs.
This is especially disappointing because they had Christoph Waltz, a good actor at the top of his game, playing the villain, Blofeld. The writers never supplied him with any good lines like past memorable villains - nor did they give him interesting interactions with any of the other characters. He sneers well, but even with the correction of Blofeld's history, this was the weakest Blofeld characterization for the Bond series.
Further, although SPECTRE has a nice introduction, they seem pretty weak next to the nuclear acquiring SPECTRE that existed during the first three incarnations of James Bond. Part of that has to do with Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista), who makes a very uninteresting operative/henchman. (Not due to poor acting...he has very few lines to act upon...another bad concept from the writers.) In past films, the scripts always highlighted how ingenious the henchmen were at slipping through the cracks, even though they eventually got caught. Here, Mr. Hinx seems like a strong thug who hasn't yet met a bullet. I had very little respect or fear of Mr. Hinx...and the character was too much of a take-off of Oddjob - always a fav of Bond Henchman.
(I keep getting the feel that this is another View To A Kill. Capable supporting actors, blah film.)
Maybe the payoff comes in the next film. Maybe SPECTRE continues to morph, but this time into a more effective villainous group. Maybe the excitement will return.
I hope so.
P.S. I loved the fact that Blofeld's cat returned. Is it possible it survived?