With the success of “Skyfall” and the relatively positive ratings “Spectre” has received, I had high expectations for this latest James Bond installment. But my feelings as I left the theater can only be described as “meh.”
“Spectre,” directed by Sam Mendes, marks Daniel Craig’s fourth time to star as James Bond, and the writers seemed to incorporate his age into the overarching storyline. New governmental forces are looking to phase out the “double 0” program in favor of new technology. Throughout the movie, Bond even begins to question his desire to continue life as a secret agent. Unfortunately, this soul-searching reads as a little bit cheesy and unrealistic to the audience.
One of the biggest problems I had with the plot of “Spectre” is centered around the movie’s “bond girl” Madeleine Swan, who is played by French actress Lea Seydoux. The issue lies not with her acting, which was well done, but with the unfortunate writing surrounding her character. She is not introduced to the story until at least an hour into the film. But within the span of another hour (or about a week or so in movie time) Swan and Bond are suddenly madly in love.
While Bond has certainly always been a ladies man, the relationship between the two characters still reads as bizarre. The age gap is noticeable enough to be a little gross, and the actors lack the essential chemistry that encourages the audience to root for them. Perhaps if she were introduced to the storyline earlier the relationship would have been much more believable have had more time to develop.
The movie’s primary plot is supposed to be based on a secretive evil organization called Spectre that is pulling the strings behind the scenes in multiple of European governments. But the organization’s purpose in the story seems only to be the introduction of the main villain, who operates separately (and is defeated separately) from the Spectre group for the vast majority of the film. The story seems to have such a long chain of tangents that even at the conclusion of the action, things feel unfinished.
“Spectre’s” action scenes were also disappointing because they were just a tad bit too smooth. For example, in one of the earliest scenes of the movie, Bond tumbles amongst rubble from a collapsing building, only to slide gracefully down a well-timed falling platform and onto a very conveniently located couch, which is somehow not obstructed by chunks of brick. The movie is full of situations where Bond extracts himself from danger so fluidly that they lack both believability and the element of suspense.
In conclusion, I found “Spectre’s” half-worked plot predictable and my viewing experience was tinged with a degree of boredom. I would give it a 6 out of 10. It was, in essence, just another spy movie: it wasn’t bad enough to be considered awful, but it wasn’t exactly good either. My recommendation is to save your money and catch it on Redbox or Netflix if you’re a spy movie/Bond enthusiast. But check out the Sam Smith song from the opening credits — it was probably the best thing about of the whole film.
