With Spectre and Craig, the real 007 finally returns

Rating: 10/10 (30 October 2015)

I saw Spectre tonight and I only need one word ... MAGNIFICENT!!! James Bond is back. After the disastrous Brosnan era which nearly meant the end of the franchise, the reanimation of James Bond of course began with Daniel Craig as the new 007 in Casino Royal. What an entrance he made. The sequel Quantum of Solace unfortunately was a bit of a letdown but still way better then Brosnan. With Skyfall the producers made a tremendous comeback and now with Spectre the return is complete, 007 at his very best. Finally again a male M, Q, Moneypenny, gadgets but not too, shaken not stirred, humour, Spectre (of course) and the all time super villain ... Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In retrospect, the previous 3 Bond movies have been a gradual build up to this climax. Spectre is really old school James Bond but at the same time with a very 21st century twist.
The very strong opening begins with a few minutes long single shot scene in Mexico City. Through out the movie, at certain points, Spectre really breathed the old JB atmosphere from the Connery and Lazenby era. Especially the scenes at the Hoffler Clinic in the Alpes, on the train and at the Blofeld HQ inside the crater strongly reminded me of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, From Russia With Love and You Only Live Twice. Also the title song scene with the specific references to Casino Royal, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall is something we already saw in OHMSS. I really have to compliment Sam Mendes on that. First with Skyfall and now with Spectre, he made 2 excellent Bond movies we had not seen in a few decades.
And what about the different characters? Christopher Waltz plays a very strong Blofeld. A creepy, sadistic, megalomaniac madman. Very Blofeld worthy so to say. Dave Bautista is the good old bad muscles, a crossing between Robert Shaw (Major Grant in FRWL) and Jaws. Monica Bellucci and Léa Sedoux are two gorgeous Bond women. The only little disappointment I had, if there was one, is the really small part that La Bellucci has in the movie. I expected her to have a bigger role. Ralph Fiennes portrays a very convincing M in his first appearance and Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw are very satisfying as Moneypenny and Q.
And for Daniel Craig's performance? That's quite simple. With these 4 Bond movies under his belt, he has definitely proved to be the one and only true successor of Sean Connery, still the best 007 ever. I really hope he's going to do a 5th Bond movie because I really can't think of any other actor (not Hugh Jackman, not Idris Elba, not Damian Lewis) who is able to play this part.