Skip to main content

Spectre Review



Finally, after a 3 year wait, we get another Bond movie… Spectre. As often happens with Bond movies, my initial determination to critique this movie faded as soon as the gun barrel sequence began, instantly turning me into the hopeless fanboy that I often am. This continued throughout the opening sequence, possibly the most electrifying in the entire series, and ended only when the movie actually began. Why am I telling you all this? Because I need an opening paragraph.

So anyway, Spectre opens with one of the greatest introductions in Bond history, and slowly descends into mediocrity. Then, we get more pulse-pounding action and it’s great again. Then it descends into mediocrity again, and then it’s great again. This is largely what the movie is like up until its fantastic third act. As it turns out, you’ll enjoy Spectre most if you don’t view it as a stand-alone movie, but as the conclusion to a story that has spanned four movies. This may be one reason the movie was despised by so many people, but loved by so many others. Much of the emotion in this movie is implied rather than directly stated, and for me this worked. For others, though, it won’t.


This is absolutely not a traditional Bond film, but if you’ve watched any of Craig’s Bond movies, then you’ll expect that. However, towards the end, (spoiler-ish-ish-ish stuff) Bond finally makes the transition from the cold-hearted, damaged assassin that we’ve come to love to the more traditional character that older audiences will be more familiar with. For some people, this was simply a lazy transition and a lame attempt to please both crowds. For me, it was an excellent completion of the character development that Bond has been slowly going through over the course of these movies. Now, I’m not simply giving its faults a stamp of approval just because it’s a Bond movie. I don’t deny that is certainly has flaws, even a lot of them. The pacing is a bit off in some places, the romance is forced, the second act is all over the place, and several situations are resolved too easily. But ultimately, these flaws are overcome by many rewarding moments. Also, I feel that I should mention that Thomas Newman’s score, while not perfect, is a vast improvement over Skyfall’s, and certainly helps escalate the tension in many scenes. While the movie is, in the end, not as good as Skyfall, it is a worthy successor and an excellent ending chapter for Craig’s Bond, who has been, in my opinion, the best Bond by far. 3.7/5 stars.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place is the story of a tight-knit family fighting for survival on an Earth that has been occupied by murderous aliens. A Quiet Place is the third film directed by John Krasinski, as well as the third he’s written. Despite his first two films receiving a lukewarm critical welcome, critics have lavished praise on A Quiet Place , considering it one of the best horror films in years. So, does it live up to the hype? It does. The film is ultimately a tour-de-force in the thriller genre, arriving on the scene and challenging any movie to create even half the tension it possesses. The film’s performances are all excellent. Most stunning, however, are the performances of Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds, who play the children in the family beautifully. They are able to capture a range of emotions rarely seen in even adult actors, and both seem to have bright futures ahead. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt have slightly more nuanced roles...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wonder Woman

Ah, Wonder Woman: the anomaly of the DC Extended Universe is the movie that most of us expected to continue the trend of mediocre or even atrocious films. We were all shocked when it became one of the best-reviewed superhero films of all time. Spoiler alert: I’m about to discuss the ending in detail. The plot is a fairly standard, straightforward origin story. It’s given more depth than usual by the fact that the film is set during World War 1. The pacing of the film’s first act is absolutely impeccable, setting up everything to follow with great efficiency. We’re given time to get to know the characters, understand their motivations, and we’re told the backstory that will play into the film later early on in a completely organic way. After Steve and Diana leave Themyscira, the plot begins to move quickly. After a bit of discussion, they decide to join the war with a small band of men. This is the point at which Diana truly comes...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok is the third and final film in the Thor series. The movie finds Thor humbled, hammer-less, and in a desperate race against time to save Asgard. Ragnarok finds Taika Waititi taking over directorial duties, Kenneth Branagh having directed the first in the series and Alan Taylor having directed the second. Both Branagh and Taylor played the first two films dreadfully seriously. While the first had intermittent, light humor, the second film was oppressively dark and grim. Waititi corrects this problem in only five minutes. Ragnarok’s prologue alone contains more lighthearted fun than both of the previous films combined. Waititi has a bit of a reputation for his oddball sense of humor, but it works wonders for Ragnarok . Waititi suggested that much of the film’s dialogue be improvised, and it does a great deal to reinforce the film’s themes of uncertainty and insecurity. The randomness and off-the-wall quality of the jokes makes...
Post a Comment
Read more