SPECTRE

(November 2015, U.S.)

Before I get started, I have to repeat that as much as I love Daniel Craig as James Bond (QUANTUM OF SOLACE the exception!), somebody has got to get to work on making the movie posters for his work a lot more exciting. I'm not saying there will ever be another artist like Dan Goozee, but geez, somebody can at least try!

(okay, that's out of my system...and I think Richard K. agrees with me!)

It was sometime shortly after the release of that terrible Bond film DIE ANOTHER DAY in 2002 that I started to privately wonder what "Spectre" (SPecial Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, if you were paying close attention to Dr. No in the first James Bond film) would be like in our post-9/11 modern world. Surely, they would no longer be trying to obtain Lektor decoders the size of typewriters as in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963), nor would they be literally swallowing up our space capsules as in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967). The organization would very likely be a more modern, technically-advanced version of our own real-life global terrorist threats of today. Still, certain classic, nostalgic touches would have to be maintained, primarily the evil genius and supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Well, thirteen years later, somebody heard me and brought the organization back to life in SPECTRE, and I suppose an actor like Christoph Wallz is about is perfect as it can ever get (just watch him in Quentin Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTARDS and you'll know what I mean).

This twenty-fourth film in the franchise more-or-less picks up where SKYFALL (2012) concluded and pitts Bond against the new global threat as he attempts (against M's orders) to defeat Blofeld's evil plan to launch an international surveillance network that will ultimately enslave and endanger all nations to its will. Along the way, Bond discovers that it was Spectre and Blofeld that were behind the unfortunate incidents in the three films preceding this one, including the death of Bond's true love Vesper Lynd in CASINO ROYALE (2006). Classic characters like Moneypenny and "Q" return and we get our first real chance to see how actor Ralph Fiennes operates as the new "M" following the death of Judi Dench's character in the last film. In fact, it's safe to say that SPECTRE, beyond all of its formulaic action, suspense and thrills, is a true opportunity for character exploration for the first time in decades. "Q", for all of his silliness as portrayed by Desmond LLewelyn in countless films, is really put to the test in this one, as it's up to his high-tech knowledge and experience to help defeat the evil plot against the civilized world. Bond, of course, hasn't changed much; he's still pissed off at everybody, still determined to win the day at any cost, and still protective of the (seemingly) helpless Bond girl (played by Léa Seydoux, who looks young enough to be Bond's daughter!) while still maintaining his inability to get too emotionally involved (but hey, that's the way we like Bond, right?).

The true attraction to SPECTRE, in my opinion, is the return of an evil character we've never really gotten to know before. Ernst Stavro Blofeld was merely a hidden figure stroking a cat in the second and fourth film. By the time we saw his face (well, what was left of it anyway), as portrayed by Donald Pleasence, he hardly had enough screen time for us to really embrace his evil. Telly Savalas and Charles Gray were pointless actors in a role that should have been explored a great deal more. And the character's final demise down a tall chimney stack at the beginning of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981) was just a bad joke without a punchline. Wallz not only brings out the sinister charisma in a character we've known of for a long time, but also treats us to the performance of a gifted actor for a long enough period of time for it to mean something to us. I can't say that Blofeld's final arrest near the the ruins of the old MI6 building, as he crawls along the road like a common, desperate criminal, is anything too climactic, but perhaps it's merely intentional in order to bring him back for the next chapter...maybe.

Now, if like me, you thought the prospect of Blofeld and Bond being practically brothers because they were raised as boys by the same man, Hannes Oberhauser, the legal guardian of Bond after his parents were killed in a climbing accident, was about as far-fetched as Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father or Michael Myers being Laurie Strode's brother, well, all I can say is that the origin of that particular story idea goes as far back as the original Ian Flemming novel for OCTOPUSSY. Director Sam Mendes conceived the idea based on that backstory and took it to the next level. Does it work? I suppose it does as much as you're willing to check your intelligence in at the door before watching the film. I suppose there have been far worse and far more extreme suggestions in films of Bond's past...just take your pick.

While I don't feel any of Craig's work in the role has truly lived up to CASINO ROYALE, SPECTRE is intelligent, inventive and complex enough to keep us interested for another go-around in the franchise. It's visually stunning and knows when to take its time and absorb you into its content, thanks to the return of director Sam Mendes' talents. Craig's cruel intensity continues to define Bond for the newer and darker generation of movie action heroes. American wrestler Dave Bautista gives the classic evil character of Oddjob in GOLDFINGER (1964) a good run for his money. Ralph Fiennes is a worthy successor as "M" with his own style of British charm and class. The Bond girls, unfortunately, have little-to-nothing left to offer since Eva Green as Vesper. In fact, review the films since 2006 and you'll find they don't even take up too much significant screen time anymore. And even when the action of classy cars and speeding helicopters decides to slow down long enough for us to get back onto the ground, it's the minute-by-minute thrill of watching characters do their job in a race against time that holds our attention and imagination quite well. If Bond films can continue to do that effectively, then I believe the franchise may still have a long way to go before it gets too stale (if that happens, Richard K. may have to find a new passion to consume himself with...Heaven forbid! LOL!).

Favorite line or dialogue:

Ernst Stavro Blofeld: "You came across me so many times and yet you never saw me. Le Chiffre, Greene, Silva..."
James Bond: "All dead."
Blofeld: "That's right. A nice pattern developed. You interfered in my world, I destroyed yours. Or did you think it was coincidence that all the women in your life ended up dead?"