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SPECTRE [2015, UK & USA - English]

The last instalment of the 007 series left us with the saddest departure of M (Judi Dench) and James Bond's hunger for revenge sets us off for another action-packed adventure in the 24th instalment, Spectre. Helmed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty 1999, Skyfall 2002), the film opens with a bang just as all other predecessors. 007 (Daniel Craig) tracks down a villain which ends with an explosion, the crumbling of an entire building and a relentless chase right up to a gutsy fight on a helicopter spinning out of control over thousands of people amidst the Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico City. Impressive opening.

What follows is a series of commendable action scenes mastered by Mendes and coupled with cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema (Interstellar 2014, Her 2013), the film is undoubtedly a visual spectacle. Left with a very shady clue by M, James' unrelenting chase takes him to Rome, Morocco and the Austrian Alps, to track down a mysterious international criminal organization known as Spectre, led by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz).

Bond movies are in the past mainly engineered based on glossy entertaining escapism where they don't really care if some are silly or cheesy. In each film, the tropes are clearly manifesting the signature; Bond is an alcoholic and a womaniser, who gets the most wicked and coolest toys we can imagine. Craig has been chosen to lead the much-evolved Bond with Casino Royale (2006), being one of the best reboots of an old franchise, finally making me a fan of the Bond series. Kudos to the makers of the recent instalments for breaking away from the "archaic" formula, but something tells me it is the very same factor which has posed a challenge for them to sustain the franchise, making sure each episode is fantastic enough to be both box-office friendly and keeping audience in awe. Skyfall was a big shoe to fill, and true enough I had issues with the scripting and less-convincing plot in Spectre.

Whilst Ralph Fiennes fits in comfortably as the new 'M', we are also introduced to two attractive Bond girls with very weak excuses to be linked to the contrived plot. First we have seasoned eye-candy Monica Bellucci, appearing in the film as an assassin's widow, named Lucia Sciarra, whose brief encounter with Bond results in a steamy sexual encounter, and that was it! The 51 year-old Italian actress' age is the least of the issues here, though some ridiculously questioned the choice. Craig was even forced at one point to straighten out the foolish remark made during an interview claiming that Bond is succumbing to the charm of "older women" in Spectre, quoting, “I think you mean the charms of a woman his own age (Craig is 47) - We’re talking about Monica Bellucci, for heaven’s sake. When someone like that wants to be a Bond girl, you just count yourself lucky!” Bellucci's appearance however amounted to a matter of a few unforgettable minutes, being used by Bond (through an uncomfortable seduction scene) to obtain some info and the next thing we know, she's pouting in the bed purring "Don't leave me James". That’ll be all we get to see of the charismatic actress. Way too easy for the hero’s convenience, and way too insignificant for Bellucci. We are not just talking about evolution in the 007 franchise, audience has also moved on. Gone are the days of plaguing action flicks with shallow bombshells who contribute nothing to the plots except using sex to sell, we shall leave that to Michael Bay. In fact, it was Dame Judi Dench who has swept a recent UK poll to be the nation’s favorite Bond Girl, beating the likes of Halle Berry and Eva Green. Next, we have Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), Bond’s new love interest. Whilst the Blue Is The Warmest Color star gives an adequate performance, her character’s out-of-nowhere entrance into Bond’s love-life is just simply forced and corny. 

In many ways Spectre is made as a homage to the good old days of Roger Moore’s Bond, a treat for the loyal 007 fans, but to me it’s working more so towards the other direction. Going backwards indirectly makes the film appear outdated and constantly reminding us of the need for another reboot to this franchise. And it doesn’t help when you have glaring flaws and clichés smeared all over your story, villains wasting time explaining their ingenious plans long enough for the good guys to escape, villain’s highly sophisticated systems easily and conveniently hacked in a matter of minutes. It’s too familiar. All in all Spectre is entertaining, but it’s hardly a solid accomplishment.

Rating: B-

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