I almost feel sorry for Spectre, because Spectre will always have to deal with the shadow of Skyfall looming menacingly over it. Not to give Skyfall a bad name, it isn't Skyfall's fault that it was so ridiculously good, but the film that followed it will always suffer as a result of its ridiculously goodness. Fortunately for Spectre, it didn't suffer too much
Set Pieces Galore
Despite being a fourteen year old boy, action sequences in films aren't often something I really care for. I much prefer the scenes in which the character's are interacting through other, less violent means. I think the problem lies in the lack of emotional involvement, when I see the heroes and villains beating the living daylights (no pun intended) out of each other I don't actually care, because all of the character is sucked out and instead all I see on screen are a few lifeless beings breaking lots of stuff.
Spectre, however did manage to capture my attention. What made it work for me was a combination of excellent set pieces and a main character that I actually cared about. Firstly, each set piece managed to achieve the impressive feat of topping the previous one in terms of spectacle, with sequences taking place inside crashing helicopters, whilst skiing down mountains and inside derelict buildings rigged to explode. Each time a new action sequence began, I was excited to see what ridiculous stunts they were going to pull of and I was never disappointed.
Secondly and more importantly, there was a character in the centre of it all that I actually cared about. Every time Bond was hit, every time he was in danger of falling out of a moving train, every time he was about to get blown up, I was on the edge of my seat, because I cared about the outcome. Part of this was because the film makes sure that you know James Bond is capable of getting hurt, James Bond is capable of losing. Other characters, superheroes for example, are often shown off as completely invincible beings, incapable of ever getting a scratch, but not James Bond. A lot of that is down to the Bourne films and their impressive physicality that the recent Bonds have often draw from, but there's another thing that Bond does better.
More Character Than Bourne
The Bourne films to me were always lacking in character. Every line of dialogue that was spoken seemed to be a statement, something that was there to move the plot on to the next action sequence. Unfortunately, at least for me, that made them suffer quite a lot. With little emotional involvement with the characters, I didn't care for the outcome of the action sequences and was instead sitting there rather distracted by the shakiness of the camera.
Spectre doesn't repeat this mistake. Daniel Craig's Bond continues to be just as charming as ever, delivering consistently amusing one liners, without it ever becoming an annoyance (I'm looking at you, Tony Stark). Craig manages to maintain this likeable appearance throughout the entire film, therefore I continued to route for him for that long
This is also aided by the fact that Christoph Waltz's Blofeld is suitably loathsome. His performance creates a character that is despicably evil and wonderfully menacing, although not in a cheesy way. The way his character is first introduced perfectly encompasses this; his face is kept entirely in the shadows and all you're allowed to hear is his voice. Your brain can't make sense of him because there's no image that you can match with the creepy words being heard and when he directly addresses Bond without turning to face him, you're all the more terrified.
Ben Wishaw's Q is also brilliant, providing some excellent jokes from some fine comic timing and Ralph Fiennes is quite good as M, although he does seem somewhat unremarkable compared to Judi Dench's M. A similar thing can be said for Andrew Scott's character C. Despite Scott's perfectly adequate performance, the role he was given didn't really use his talents to full effect. As a result, it felt like something that practically any half decent actor could do just as well as he did.
On the flip side, Léa Seydoux's Madeline Swan is fantastic. Her character is similar to Eva Green's Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, in that she is completely three dimensional, capable of having actual development. She isn't afraid to challenge Bond and is not just there to tick off 'glamorous girl' from the Bond film checklist. She may potentially be even better than Lynd. Instead of just sitting around crying in a shower, she gets properly stuck in on the action. There's an entire sequence in which her and Bond fight Dave Bautista's henchman character, Mr Hinx. She doesn't run away or get captured and placed in the middle of the road, but instead fights Mr. Hinx alongside Bond, with just as much strength and skill. She also doesn't [SPOILER ALERT] drown in a lift.
The Elephant in the Room
Now you may be thinking to yourself, "Wow Nathan, this Spectre film sounds really quite good. The thing is though, is it as good as Skyfall?" The unfortunate and not entirely unexpected answer to that question is of course no. Spectre is, despite all that it has going for it, not as good as Skyfall.
Not that it's a poorly written film, it is a very well written film. It also has nothing to do with the directing. Sam Mendes is, once more, absolutely brilliant and he clearly has a strong bond with Craig (no pun intended), allowing them to pull of some great work, that feels much more personal than the Craig outings that Mendes wasn't involved in. The problem doesn't lie in the acting - all the actors bring their characters suitably to life - or the action, either.
The problem, in fact, doesn't lie in Spectre at all. The problem is actually within Skyfall, because Skyfall is so stupidly, ridiculously, unbelievably good. It was and still is a remarkable Bond film, breaking the mould to produce an extremely entertaining, brilliantly smart and surprisingly contemporary Bond film. It also manages to explore the main characters, mainly Bond and M, in a lot of emotional depth, whilst still delivering on exciting thrills and an intriguing, unique plot.
Spectre doesn't do much of that. In fact, it does the complete opposite. It embraces the Bond formula to produce something that is an entirely ordinary 007 affair. It follows an extremely familiar plot line involving evil, secret societies with shadowy leaders trying to take over the world and James Bond, obviously having to stop them. It does occasionaly make comments on the whole concept of spies and whether or not they're necessary in the modern, technological world. These ideas are the closest Spectre gets to Skyfall and they are very interesting ones too, but they're never explored in as much depth as its predecessor. Whilst that is in no way a bad thing in itself, Spectre's fairly standard plot can come off as quite unremarkable (there's that word again) when you stack it up against Skyfall.
The Verdict
Whilst it may seem slightly weak in comparison to Skyfall, if you judge Spectre on its own merits, it's still an excellent film. The acting, writing and directing is all of a very high standard. While its plot is admittedly formulaic, it is certainly entertaining and the action is far more engaging compared to most other films. To sum everything up, you won't be blown away, but you won't be anywhere near disappointed either.
7/10
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