Name: Spectre (2015)
IMDb: link to IMDb
Genres: Action, Adventure, Crime Country of Origin: UK
Cast: Daniel Craig as James Bond, Christoph Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory/M, Monica Belucci as Lucia Sciarra, Ben Wishaw as Q/Quartermaster, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, Dave Bautista as Mr Hinx, Andrew Scott as C/Max Denbigh, Rory Kinnear as Tanner.
Directed by: Sam Mendes. Written by: John Logan, Neal Purvis.
The initial tableaux: The film starts in Mexico City in a grand public Day of the Dead celebration. Bond seems to be enjoying himself, but soon is in direct pursuit of an enemy. When he returns to London, M lets him know that his actions were not appreciated, that he will be under observation, and that the double oh section is in danger of being shut down.
Delineation of conflicts: C (head of the new organisation Centre of National Security) wants to shut down the double oh section; M wants to keep it open. Bond wants to honour the post-mortem wishes of the previous M. SPECTRE wants strong control of almost all information flow in the world, so as to have more power and to make more money. C wants that flow to be available to UK intelligence to replace older methodology, like MI6. Q, M, Tanner, Moneypenny, and Bond would like to preserve each other as well as some traditional British approaches to civilization and intelligence. C and SPECTRE are clearly opposed, and seem to have the upper hand during most of the film. Bond's foster brother wants to make Bond fully aware of how much he hates him.
Resolution: Bond has an opportunity to be his better self; does he take it?
One line summary: Clearly the best Bond film ever.
Why do I call this the best Bond film ever? Because it narrates a clear and conclusive path to the long overdue end to this excellent series. Take the opportunity. This film explains the entire series and shows Bond accepting a change in life path. There is no need for continuance after this wonderful film.
Statistics:
a. Cinematography: 10/10 Beautiful. Breathtaking. Professional. Should be 27/10, but would be cheating, I guess.
b. Sound: 9/10 Having a man (Sam Smith) sing the theme song for the film in castrato style is just, plain, wrong. Except for that wretched interlude, the background sound was excellent for accentuating pacing and mood.
c. Acting: 9/10 I liked every actor except the overrated Christoph Waltz, whose performance was neither interesting nor believable, despite the richness of the role. Dave Bautista played an excellent physical opponent to Bond: huge, powerful, quick, intelligent, determined. Ben Wishaw was wonderful as the modern quartermaster that 007 needs in the present. Fiennes, Kinnear, Harris, and Belucci did fine jobs. Andrew Scott's performance was quite good as a rotten ball of snot who needed to run things no matter what the consequences. Last but not least, I enjoyed watching Seydoux and Craig much more than I thought I would.
d. Screenplay: 10/10 This is the best story I've ever seen in a Bond film. The introduction of a female character who was actually a good match for Bond was quite an innovation. The story threads were engaging, the tension was at a good level throughout, and the whole script led to a decisive ending. For money reasons, I'm sure there will be more Bond films. The ending of this film, though, was beautiful and final and just and closed. So please, folks, stop on the highest note, and don't break that lovely ending.
Final rating: 10/10
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