All the thrills one hopes for in a Bond Film

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 2015)

As this, the forth of the Daniel Craig era Bond films opens we find Bond in Mexico City on the Day of the Dead. The camera tracks a man in a skeleton costume as he, and the woman he is with, walk through the crowd and into a hotel; the man removes his mask to reveal that he is in fact Bond. He excuses himself and goes for a rooftop walk. He then watches two men talking in the building opposite before opening fire moments later the building explodes! The target, Marco Sciarra, escapes with Bond in pursuit; he catches up with him just as he scrambles aboard a helicopter and a fight to the death ensues over the crowded Zocolo Square.
After the credits Bond is back in London where M reprimands him for his unofficial operation in Mexico before telling him that their department is to be amalgamated into MI5 under the leadership of a man Bond insists on calling 'C'. C believes that the OO section is obsolete; the future of intelligence will involve intercepting communications and drones to this end he intends to create 'Nine Eyes' a group of nine nations that will share all such data. Bond is told to stay in London but inevitable doesn't. We learn that the previous M had sent a posthumous message to Bond telling him to kill Sciarra then go to his funeral. Here, in Rome, he meets the dead man's wife and learns that he was part of a secret criminal organisation.
Over the course of his investigation he learns that this organisation is known as SPECTRE and it has somehow been behind the events in the previous three films. He also learns that more than one person he assumed was dead is in fact alive; including the head of SPECTRE Franz Oberhauser; somebody he knew as a child but now calls himself Ernst Stavro Blofeld! As with all Bond films there is a Bond Girl and this one is Madeleine Swann, the daughter of SPECTRE member Mr. White who is being targeted for assassination by the group.
At two and a half hours in length this is one of the longer Bond films but at no time did I find myself wondering how much longer it would be going on. The viewer is immediately gripped in the opening scene, which appears to be one long tracking shot. We then get an explosion, chase and finally a fight in a helicopter all before the opening credits! From then on we get a number of great set-pieces including car chases, Bond rescuing Madeleine from would-be abductors as he chases their cars in a plane and numerous fights and shootouts. While the action is great there is also a solid story that nicely links back to the previous three films and (re) introduces the most famous of Bond villains in a way that gives him some back story. The cast does a fine job; Daniel Craig is on top form as Bond, a role he has made his own; while we instinctively know he will prevail there are moments where he makes us believe his character is in real and imminent danger. Christoph Waltz is suitable villainous as Blofeld, Andrew Scott is delightfully unpleasant as C and Léa Seydoux makes a fine Bond Girl as Madeleine Swann. Talking of Bond Girls it was nice to see Monica Bellucci as Sciarra's widow showing that you don't have to be young to be sexy. Dave Bautista was also rather fun as the thuggish assassin Mr. Hinx; his stature and lack of time for small talk reminded me of the character Jaws from the Roger Moore era but without the campness he even got a brilliant send-off that was clearly a nod to the film 'Jaws'!
Amid the action there are some scenes that may disturb some viewers; including an eye-gouging and Bond being tortured. This is balanced by plenty of humour though; most notably Bond's car that doesn't have all the weaponry loaded as he expected. There has been talk of this being Craig's last Bond film, while I hope that is not the case, the conclusion would make a fitting conclusion to his time as Bond. Overall a really fine entry to the Bond series; up there with the best.