Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in “Spectre”. Photo courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions.
Topping 2012’s Skyfall is a task even James Bond would have trouble accomplishing. With Skyfall director Sam Mendes back on board and Daniel Craig returning as Bond, Spectre has potential to live up to the expectations of their last Bond collaboration. Though Spectre is an entertaining Bond movie with all the ingredients to become a new classic, it somehow doesn’t add up to the sum of its parts.
The globetrotting adventure gets off to an explosive start as Bond gives chase to an Italian crime boss (Alessandro Cremona) resulting in a toppled building and an intense helicopter fight over Mexico City’s Day of the Dead festival. As a result of what his superior M (Ralph Fiennes) views as an international fiasco, Bond is suspended from duty and forbidden from continuing his investigations. That means, of course, that Bond then goes to Rome to console grieving widow Lucia Sciarro (Monica Bellucci) before infiltrating SPECTRE, a secret criminal society, just as a new leader violently takes control of the organization. This new leader, played by the magnificent Cristoph Waltz, eventually reveals himself to be a familiar supervillain in the Bond mythos who is closely tied to Bond’s past dating back to childhood.
James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Mr. HInx (Batista) battle it out as Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) looks on in “Spectre”. Photo courtesy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions.
While Waltz is the brains of the organization, the brawn is Mr. Hinx, an indestructible brute played convincingly by former WWE Champion Batista, who looks to be following in The Rock‘s footsteps as the next wrestler-turned-action movie star. From a destructive car chase in Rome to an inventive plane/car chase through Austrian mountains to a brutal fist fight through a Morroccan train, Batista proves to be a formidable Bond foe, despite only uttering a single word during the entire movie. Given his imposing presence (and metallic thumbnails), I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hinx reappear in a future installment of the Bond series.
Memorable villains have always been a Bond staple, as have exotic love interests. Spectre‘s female star is French actress Léa Seydoux, who plays Dr. Madeleine Swann, the daughter of Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), a member of SPECTRE subsidiary Quantum. Swann is no damsel-in-distress, however, proving to be as adept at fighting, weaponry and espionage as Bond himself. Which, in addition to her physical allure, makes her all the more appealing to Bond. After being captured by Waltz’s character, Bond learns (during a torturous episode) not only of his lifelong connection to this villain, but also that SPECTRE is very close to completing its Orwellian plan to take over the world. Overcoming impossible odds, Bond and Swann escape and set out to thwart SPECTRE’s plan before time runs out.
Christoph Waltz (left) and Leå Seydoux in “Spectre”. Photo courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions.
The final act is suspenseful, albeit a bit formulaic. With the clock ticking, Bond is forced to save the people he cares about, bring bad guys to justice and find some sense of humanity amidst the violence that has become routine for him. Though Spectre definitely seems to close a chapter in this series (amidst rumors that Craig will not be returning to reprise the role), it also makes it clear that we haven’t seen the last of cinema’s favorite spy. While it delivers on an escapism level, Spectre falls short (pun intended) of Skyfall‘s sense of realism. If anything, the conclusion leaves the viewer curious about the future, which, given that this is the 24th film in a seemingly unlimited series of stories, is probably intentional.