MovieNotes: Spectre

Title: Spectre (IMDB)

*ing: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes

Language: English 

Director: Sam Mendes

Genre: Action, Spy, Thriller

Basic Premise

James Bond is on an independent mission assigned to him by the deceased M. He discovers that all his past enemies had a common connection which links back to his own past as well. Spectre. Meanwhile Spectre is also trying to pull the rug Bond’s own organization and take over the entire world’s surveillance. Bond survives Spectre’s evil designs and once again saves the world.

MovieNotes

What Works

• The movie sticks to the standard Bond formula, which has been perfected over the past fifty years.
• The action scenes are good as is the acting, though being a typical Bond movie doesn’t give too much leeway for the actors’ histrionic abilities. And the brief witty repartees help cope up with the storyline.
• Daniel Craig plays a more conventional James Bond this time around unlike his previous three appearances.

What Doesn’t

• The preceding movie was Skyfall, and Spectre pales in its comparison.
• The makers are trying to tie up too many loosed ends, so the story keeps jumping around, hoping that the action distracts from the gaps.
• Sam Smith’s rendition of “The Writing’s On the Wall” falls flat, and it sounds worse when compared to Adele’s Skyfall
• The roles seriously limit the actors. Would have certainly liked to see more of Christoph Waltz.
• Continuity goof-ups like the train-fight in which all the fellow passengers just disappear.

MovieNotes

• Can also be named as the ghosts of villains past.
• We come to the very basic question – What is the relevance of James Bond in today’s digitized world? And the answer is still open to debate.
• This is the era of cinematic universes. And even the Makers of Bond movies are falling into that trap. Earlier Bond movies were standalone with passing nods to the previous films. With Spectre the makers are trying to connect all of Craig’s previous appearances in one overlying story-arch. Which also brings us to the question - Is this Daniel Craig’s last Bond movie? 
• Voldemort vs Moriarity was fun. Especially given that we all (i.e. Indian audiences) do know what “C” stands for :P
• Useless factoid – Lea Seydoux is a descendant of Marcel Schlumberger.
• Disappointed to see that India was not a member of the 9-Eyes program. There goes our Security Council seat.

Rating – 6/10. Faltering storyline while following up on the expectations setup by Skyfall partly redeemed by the slick action.

Previously on MovieNotes – Bajrangi Bhaijaan

MovieNotes: Skyfall

Movie - Skyfall (or James Bond 23)

*ing - Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem & new Q, New M, new Moneypenny

Language - Her Majesty's English

Skyfall marks the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movie series. It is about James Bond going back to basics. We see details into the Bond back story which hadn't come to light earlier especially in the movies. More information on Bond's background is revealed (e.g. parents, Scottish descent etc.)

There are the customary Bond moments - a thrilling pre-opening-credit scene, the confrontations with M, the menacing villain who ideally shouldn't fit into this world, the Aston Martin, the gadgets (nothing too show-off this time), the Bond girls, they are all there. But the real feel of a Bond movie has gone amiss.

Skyfall represents a complete cut-off from the Pierce Brosnon era and tries to establish Daniel Craig as the James Bond. We get to see a new Q, the arrival of Moneypenny and even a new M. So as the makers wanted, the transition is now complete. All this would have been fine. Quite a few superhero movies get a re-boot (e.g. Batman, Spiderman etc). But Daniel Craig just doesn't seem to fit in the James Bond persona (rather the conventional Bond mould).

Another thought which came to mind were the many parallels Skyfall had with Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Never thought of it earlier but James Bond & Bruce Wayne both had similar backgrounds. Rich parents who died very early, left with a manor house which they don't like (and helped destroy) and a butler who acted as a surrogate father (Alfred/Kincaid). Also the villain in chief wants to create anarchy (Joker/Silva). Both even stage their own capture in order to fufill their villainous ambitions.  Even the background score seemed similar in places. In fact Sam Mendes is quoted to have been inspired by the Dark Knight. So the parallels were deliberate.

A word about Javier Bardem's performance  He adds the right amount of menace to the character who is driven by revenge but likes to wreck anarchy on the world. In a performance as a super-villain I would rank him above Christopher Waltz's Hans Landa but just below the Heath Ledger's Joker.

And lastly, never thought I would hear Tennyson being quoted in a Bond movie. 

Overall Rating - 7/10

Liked the end credits - which announced that James Bond will be back 

Previously on MovieNotes - English Vinglish