The opening sequence in Mexico City is a thrilling piece of action filmmaking, the gorgeously designed opening title sequence makes Sam Smith’s somewhat disappointing theme song more impactful, and Bond’s home team of M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), and Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear) are all in fine form and allowed to get in on the action in ways these characters usually aren’t allowed. I will say though that everything leading up to that final act is a delight for fans of the series. The “twist” that accompanies their return comes off a bit half-handily and the final act ultimately fails to generate much excitement due to an evil plot that lacks the sort of stakes seen in previous Bond films. returning from the dead, this is probably the film’s weakest element. Sitting at the head of this revamped version of the organization is a man named Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) who has a unique connection to James that I won’t spoil here.Īnd as excited as I was about the prospect of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
#SPECTRE FILM LOGO SHADOWS SERIES#
Madeleine Swan (Lea Seydoux), who leads Bond on to the next clue in his quest for answers.Īnd as the title suggests the end of that quest leads to the classic criminal organization known as S.P.E.C.T.R.E., which featured prominently in many of Sean Connery’s Bond films but has been missing from the series since 1971 due to legal complications.
#SPECTRE FILM LOGO SHADOWS MOVIE#
As in any good Bond movie the trail takes him to exotic locations such as Italy, Austria, and Morocco and he meets alluring woman like the widow of a man he killed (Monica Bellucci) and the daughter of former foe, Dr.
Some die hard fans thought these omissions (among others) disqualified these films as 100% Bond flicks, but there was hope at the end of Skyfall that all of the pieces were now in place for a “proper” James Bond adventure.Īnd that brings us to SPECTRE where we first find Bond in Mexico City on a dying wish mission from Judi Dench’s M that sets him on a path to discover the criminal organization (and it’s leader) that has been responsible for all of the evil doings of the last three films. To show those things the three films didn’t utilize the typical structure of a Bond film so for example, Q and Moneypenny didn’t appear until Skyfall and Bond never ended a film with a beautiful woman in his arms. Through this effort we’ve seen Bond make his first kills, fall in love, learn not to trust anyone, discover the choice between killing and mercy, revisit his childhood home, and lose his surrogate mother figure in Judi Dench’s M. Starting with Casino Royale, his three films have essentially rejected the classic formula that steered almost all of the films over the course of 50 years and instead focused on showing us what makes James Bond tick. I’ve already seen it twice and certainly expect my opinion on the film to evolve over the years to come but what follows is my opinion on it at this moment in time as a mega fan.Īnd with that bit of context out of the way, let’s get to the actual review.Īs successful as it has been, Daniel Craig has had a really interesting run so far as 007. I know going in that it’s a film that I’m going to have on my shelf as a part of the collection and that I’ll watch it countless times over the years to come. I tend to watch every film in the Bond series at least once a year and so a new one is never going to be something I just watch once, type a few words about, and then never think about again. But at the same time I look at any new Bond film as something that is essentially going to be with me for the rest of my life. The excitement of seeing my favorite fictional character doing new things and interacting with new characters is intoxicating and I suppose in some ways that makes me extremely biased when it comes to reviewing it in a setting like this. Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, and Ralph FiennesĪs an extremely avid fan of the James Bond series, the arrival of a new film is a momentous occasion for me. Written by: John Logan, Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth