Friday, November 20, 2015

Spectre



Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 20th November, 2015
Time : 146 minutes
Director : Sam Mendes; Writers : Josh Logan, Neal Purvis, Jez Butterworth (based on the character created by Ian Fleming); Music : Thomas Newman;
Starring : Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Rory Kinnear, Jesper Christensen




When you light a firecracker named Bond, you don’t quite expect it to fizzle out as badly as this one did. Rarely has the end been as much of a damp squib, where you wonder what it was all about or why Bond villains repeating the mistakes their predecessors of twenty years ago.




Daniel Craig, while on the heels of a villain in Mexico, causes unauthorized carnage. His boss, Ralph Fiennes (M), isn’t too happy, especially as there is a major restructuring of intelligence services underway and his new boss, the young, cocky Andrew Scott (C) is looking for excuses to shut down the Double O programme. However, Mr Craig has his own agenda – and with the sometimes unwilling assistance of Ben Whishaw (Q) and Naomie Harris (Moneypenny) – he’s hot on the heels of Christoph Waltz and his shadowy organization, Spectre. Encountering, along the way, a couple of damsels in distress – Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux.




There is a sense of foreboding through the film, particularly in the first half. A kind of tingling anticipation of great things to come, evil villainy, grand masterplans of world or interstellar domination, sizzling secrets and adventurous action. Which is why, given an actor like Waltz (wasn’t he just delicious in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained?), the second half is doubly disappointing. Action wise, there was nothing new either – no sequence which stands out in memory (the opening with the helicopter was quite tame compared to say, Goldeneye) and the opening credits were weak with the song positively mournful. And thanks to our censors, in particular the idiotic brown-nosing buffoon, Pahlaj Nihalani, we dont really get to see either Lea or Monica (who has a blink and you miss role) do their stuff.




I like Daniel Craig. I simply adore Christoph Waltz. And have had a crush on Monica Bellucci, like forever. But unfortunately, Sam Mendes and his band of writers are not able to do to Bond what Christopher Nolan managed to do to Batman – take it up a couple of notches and then keep going higher, into the stratosphere. Perhaps naming the previous one Skyfall turned out to be prophetic ?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here comes Ian Fleming's 24th 007 Bond franchise and Daniel Craig's 4th outing ...

Anonymous said...

Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani seems to be on a roll yet again.. Apparently he has reduced the kissing scenes in Spectre by 1/2, he has also urged the distributors, Sony pictures, to add his "mera desh hai mahan" video that is a tribute to Modi... Pompous man..

Anonymous said...

There are some who crave for the honours their country can bestow.. This is no way...

Anonymous said...

A lover of the old and quaint... "And have had... " inwardly you must be tingling with rapture..what a crush ! She can arouse one from his meditations...even in repose, her manner is forceful... It is as if there has been a belt of fog hiding the Promised Land from you and Spectre has ripped it apart and brought the Sun smiling through..

Anonymous said...

My writing kind of sucks.. Not worth publishing ?

Anonymous said...

Never say no to adventures. Always say yes, otherwise you'll lead a very dull life.. Ian Fleming.

Anonymous said...

Daniel Craig is the only Bond with more martinis than kisses per film than any other Bond actor ! Booze vs Babes....

Anonymous said...

A Canadian malt named in honour of the Queen Mother has been crowned the world's best whiskey. Crown Royal Northern Harvest was awarded 97.5 marks out of 100 in whiskey expert Jim Murray's annual guidebook, the Whiskey Bible, after he sampled more than 1000 whiskies...

Ravi Abhyankar said...

A very accurate review, Apurv. As a Bond devotee, I went for the first day first show. Even allowing for the devotion, the film was shockingly lazy. Nothing new at all. One of the worst bond girls (as if on drugs), one of the worst (meaning listless) villains. If special effects and photoshopping is all that Bond films can excel at, they may as well make animated films in future.

In the Cold War days, Bond films had Russian villains and USSR as the enemy to beat. In the last decade Bond could have easily fought Al Qaeda, Islamic state. Are Bond producers afraid to get into that?

Apurv Nagpal said...

Ooh ! Your compliment on the review made my day, Ravi, especially knowing how you've studied Bond films
It was such a shame that Christoph Waltz, a fabulous actor, was wasted in such a weak, spineless role. And dont even get me started on Bellucci...