Goodbye Mr Bond

Rating: Null/10 (20 March 2016)

Please do not read this review if you have not seen the film already
Spectre continues the Bond tradition of a beautifully made film awash with glamorous locations, luxury cars, London & Rome at their finest and Monica Bellucci. As a spectacle it gives the casual viewer the basics needed from a Bond film.
But what to make of Spectre from the Bond fan's perspective ? A likely last outing for Daniel Craig who demonstrates a Bond weary from previous events. Mr Craig in Spectre is a more considered Bond who now listens to reason, thinks before charging in and prefers to save the world wearing Tom Ford. There is also a wink from him to the audience of just how ludicrous the whole Bond as world saver is; witness the handy sofa in the pre-titles sequence, finding time to call the office during the Rome car chase and a finale almost copied from Grease.
The Plot Spectre has a plot which on paper looked a fine piece of work by writers Logan Purvis Wade & Butterworth (LPWB). Bringing in a shadowy empire ruled by a despot, whilst a giant cliché in the Bond franchise, at least reflected our current global world which in reality is controlled by a handful of giant corporations (who supply our phone, coffee, shopping and internet browsing). The problem unfortunately for LPWB is that the plot unravels before our very eyes as we watch Spectre portrayed in the film pretty much as a team of bumbling incompetents led by a man dressed in posh carpet slippers. Christophe Waltz whilst starting out well, gradually goes downhill as an evil mastermind and by the end we are almost laughing at his ineptitude. It also did not help that Waltz decided to make adverts in the UK at the same time resulting in the supposed head of an evil empire also convincing us to buy broadband.
The Girl Spectre also brings Bond a new love interest. Bond has essentially fallen in love in 3 of his 26 missions. The first was with Tracy (OHMSS) who represented the finest ever Bond girl to the point that it is almost an insult to describe her as one. Any self- respecting Bond fan knows just how influential she has been to the series which has reflected in both direct or indirect references to her in at least 5 Bond films up to TWINE ("have you ever lost a loved one Mr Bond?"). The second was with Vesper Lynd who whilst not as rounded a character as Tracy was at least involving enough to the viewer in that we mourned her passing with Bond. The big problem with Spectre is that Bond falls in love for the third time, this time with Madeline, but LPWB do not spend any time developing her character so we essentially do not care about either her or the love affair. Madeline is maudlin, aloof and we do not understand what Bond sees in her.
The Car Note to the Bond team; the reason why the DB5 has remained the ultimate Bond car is that it was not unceremoniously dumped in a river 10 minutes after its first car chase. This film's Aston Martin never had a real chance to prove itself a classic.
Other forgettable moments The casting of the wrestler Bautista who smirks in every scene as though he cannot believe his good fortune at landing the role. He simply has no presence and this is really evident during the Q scene on the cable car when a similar henchman sits opposite him and fixes him an expressionless look of an assassin. The actor playing the role brings a real sense of menace in these 2 minutes versus Bautista's silly grin but sadly the scene ends before real drama can be played out.
Blowfeld's evil lair is also something out of Austin Powers and is so hopelessly under fortified that Bond destroys it within 2 minutes. The finale is a Die Hard rip off without any suspense. Torture scene was inappropriate and parents who consider to let their children watch Bond films (let's face it, we all watched Bond as kids) will definitely need to fast forward through the dentist chair scene.
The Theme Great song by Sam Smith but sadly Sam let slip that he wrote it in 20 minutes. At least an hour would have suggested you needed a second go at it.
The Heritage One truly admirable aspect of the Broccoli & Wilson (B&W) stewardship of the Bond canon is their dedication to preserving the Fleming heritage. Witness the small but highly involving scene filmed in Rules restaurant with M and the supporting players. Only in a Bond film would there be such a pause for reflection, amongst the explosions, in the heart of Fleming/Bond's Mayfair London.
If Daniel Craig does walk away, he can be very proud of his contribution to the series. The problem for B&W is how on earth does Bond remain relevant in a world where the real villains are nothing that Fleming wrote about. James Bond will return but whether he the man needed to take on today's problems is anyones guess.