No Time to Die (2021) review

 

Since 1962, six actors have officially portrayed author Ian Fleming’s suave secret agent James Bond AKA 007 in Eon Productions’ long-running franchise of films based on Fleming’s work, with each of them bringing their own unique spin to the title role. Up until this year, however, arguably the one thing that most of them had in common was that, unfortunately, their tenures in the role didn’t exactly end on a good note as their final films tended to be some of the franchise’s worst-received installments, sometimes for reasons that extend beyond the film’s quality. Sean Connery, for example, may have been the first and quite arguably most iconic James Bond, but his run ended in a rather bizarre way where he temporarily left the franchise after 1967’s You Only Live Twice, returned for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, then left again, and then proceeded to star in an unofficial Bond film, 1983’s Never Say Never Again, which was just a remake of his fourth Bond film, 1964’s Thunderball. During Connery’s temporary hiatus, George Lazenby took up the role, and while 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is often seen as one of the franchise’s best films, Lazenby infamously stepped away from the role after just a single film on the advice of his agent. Thus, Roger Moore ended up becoming the first ‘proper’ successor to Connery and notably appeared in a franchise-record 7 films. However, many felt that he had stayed in the role for too long to the point where, by the time that he had starred in 1985’s A View to a Kill at the age of 57, he was older than lead Bond Girl Tanya Roberts’ mother.

After Moore’s departure, Timothy Dalton was cast; like Lazenby, his tenure was another notoriously short one although, in his defense, this was mainly because the series ended up in some major legal issues after only his second film, 1989’s Licence to Kill. After that, Pierce Brosnan helped revive the franchise in the mid-’90s, with his final film, Die Another Day, notably being released in 2002, which coincided with the series’ 40^th anniversary… it also ended up being one of its worst-received outings. Thus, we now cut to Daniel Craig, the man who successfully managed to defy his biggest critics who heavily crucified his casting in 2005 because they felt that he didn’t fit the character’s long-standing image as it was both described in the books and portrayed by his five predecessors. And yet, once his first film, 2006’s Casino Royale, hit theaters, he quickly became a fan-favorite amongst critics and audiences as the series effectively rebooted itself, eschewing many of its campier elements to be more in line with the grounded spy thrillers of recent years such as the Jason Bourne franchise. In the years since, Craig has arguably maintained one of the most consistent runs of any of the Bond leads to date. Sure, his first four films were an even mix of critically-acclaimed outings (Casino Royale and 2012’s Skyfall) and incredibly polarizing affairs (2008’s Quantum of Solace and 2015’s Spectre), but overall, Craig has managed to muster a strongly positive reputation amongst Bond fans. However, by the time that Spectre was released, it was unclear if Craig was going to return for another film, especially after an infamous comment that he had made during an interview where he noted that he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another one. Granted, he did later admit that this was simply a poor way of responding to the question in the immediate wake of Spectre’s production, but nevertheless, it did cause a bit of a scandal. Ultimately, though, Craig confirmed that he would return for one more film which, as you’ll see, ended up going through quite a lot.

After it was confirmed that Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes would not return to direct a third Bond film, it was announced that visionary director Danny Boyle was tapped to direct Eon’s 25^th official Bond film with a screenplay that he had co-written with his longtime collaborator John Hodge. Had this gone through, Boyle would’ve quite arguably been the most prominent director to ever be attached to the franchise given Eon’s tendency to not rely on big-name directors, having notably turned down the likes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in the past. Unfortunately, Boyle ended up dropping out of the project in August 2018 due to creative differences over his and Hodge’s script. Luckily for Eon, the search for a new director didn’t end up taking too long as they ultimately hired Cary Joji Fukunaga. Over the past few years, Fukunaga has made quite a name for himself as a director thanks to his work on the likes of the 2015 Netflix film Beasts of No Nation and the first season of HBO’s True Detective. With his hiring, Fukunaga notably became the first American-born director to helm a Bond film as well as the first to also have a writing credit on the film, which he shares with series regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and, by Daniel Craig’s own request, Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. And apart from an ankle injury that Craig sustained during filming, everything seemed to be going well for what would eventually be titled No Time to Die as the film was primed for an April 2020 domestic release… and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

With theaters closing around the world due to the impact of the pandemic, MGM and Eon promptly decided to push No Time to Die’s release date back, effectively making it the first film that had to bow to the pressure of a COVID-forced delay. And sure enough, other big-name blockbusters like F9, Black Widow, and Wonder Woman 1984 were forced to move back to a later date as well. As for No Time to Die, it was clear that this was for the best to ensure a strong financial performance at the worldwide box office as it was estimated that the film would’ve lost about $300 million had it stayed in its April 2020 slot. First poised for a November 2020 release, it was then pushed back again to April 2021, a full year after its initially planned release, when it was clear that theaters wouldn’t be back in full operation by that time. But when the new year rolled around, it was pushed back again to October 2021; thankfully, though, that release date was officially locked in back in August, and thus, more than one and a half years after it was originally set to hit theaters, the grand finale to Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond is finally here. Obviously, this one’s been a long time coming, but thanks to Cary Joji Fukunaga’s brilliant direction and its many moments of powerful emotional poignancy, No Time to Die achieves a genuine first in franchise history by giving its lead actor the send-off that he damn well deserves.

In the wake of MI6’s successful capture of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), the leader of the sinister criminal organization known as Spectre, James Bond AKA Agent 007 (Daniel Craig) has begun to settle down with his lover, psychiatrist Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). However, their peaceful lives are tragically upended when a run-in with Spectre agents leaves Bond to believe that Madeleine has betrayed him, thus resulting in him abandoning her and retiring from MI6. Five years later, Bond is approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who requests his help in locating a kidnapped scientist, Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik). Bond soon discovers that Obruchev has been working with MI6 on an advanced nanobot bioweapon known as ‘Project Heracles’ that can eliminate any target by coding itself to their DNA. This immediately compels Bond to return to active duty, where he finds himself reuniting with his old MI6 associates (MI6 head Gareth Mallory AKA M (Ralph Fiennes), his secretary Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), chief of staff Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), and Quartermaster Q (Ben Whishaw)) while also meeting his successor as 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). Eventually, Bond comes face to face with the true perpetrator behind Obruchev’s kidnapping, terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who happens to have a notable connection to Madeleine due to a previous encounter with her when she was younger. Thus, Bond finds himself having to reunite with Madeleine for the first time in years as he and MI6 work to stop Safin before he can unleash ‘Project Heracles’ upon the world and cause the deaths of millions.

As of 2021, No Time to Die is, officially, the longest film of the franchise with a near 3-hour runtime of 163 minutes. Admittedly, there are a few instances where you do feel the brunt of that hefty run-time, like when the film reaches its finale and it’s clear that there’s at least a half-hour left to go. Still, that doesn’t mean that the film is a slog or anything as the main plot is solidly engaging as far as premises from this franchise are concerned. And just like how Daniel Craig’s previous odd-numbered Bond films did a great job of recontextualizing the Bond franchise for the times in which they were released, No Time to Die wholly succeeds at being another attempt at modernizing James Bond. In this instance, being that this was the first Bond film released in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it goes above and beyond to combat the series’ long-standing habit of objectifying its female characters, mainly by giving them some of the most significant roles that any ‘Bond Girl’ has ever had in these films. And while I know that there are some old-school fans out there who are viciously decrying this film for being ‘too woke’, this is all just very much in line with how Daniel Craig’s Bond films have been handled. It has also helped to give them some of the most emotional narrative moments in the history of the franchise, and sure enough, No Time to Die is arguably the most emotionally driven Bond film to date, which is a fitting development seeing how it does, indeed, serve as the end of an era.

Given how many actors have portrayed James Bond over the years, there’s been plenty of debate over the question of which of Eon’s 6 official leads is the ‘best’ of the bunch. And while many Bond fans usually tend to give Sean Connery that honor due to him being the first and most iconic Bond, it could be argued that Daniel Craig has managed to legitimately challenge Connery’s spot for that vaunted position. Regardless of the quality of his films, Craig has arguably been the best ‘acted’ James Bond as each of his five Bond films has done a great job of highlighting his deeply raw and emotionally vulnerable take on Bond, with his more recent outings also allowing him the opportunity to flex his comedic talents via Bond’s trademark quips. And as I noted earlier, No Time to Die pairs him with some of the franchise’s best female leads which, of course, all starts with a returning Léa Seydoux in a significantly improved turn as Madeleine Swann. Madeleine’s role (and, for that matter, Seydoux’s performance) in Spectre was one of the more polarizing aspects of what was quite frankly the franchise’s most polarizing installment in recent memory, with several critics and fans feeling that her chemistry with Craig was mediocre and that the romantic relationship between Bond and Madeleine wasn’t exactly developed properly. It’s a much different story here as Seydoux’s chemistry with Craig is much stronger and their relationship is far more pivotal to the plot, thus making it a nice bookend to Craig’s tenure as Bond as it matches up nicely with a lot of the big narrative beats that defined Bond’s similarly strong yet ultimately tragic relationship with Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.

As for the film’s other Bond girls (a term that, full disclosure, isn’t exactly a fitting way of describing these characters nowadays), despite some initial fears of her potentially being underutilized, Lashana Lynch’s Nomi is properly established as Bond’s equal as his successor for the position of 007. It also helps that Lynch has a terrific back-and-forth camaraderie with Craig whenever they’re on-screen together. And while she only appears in a single sequence in this nearly three-hour film, Ana de Armas is, as has been the case with a lot of her recent work, a major standout as Bond’s CIA ally Paloma. Then, of course, you have all the Bond franchise’s regulars, from Bond’s MI6 allies (Ralph Fiennes’ dry-witted M, Ben Whishaw’s lovably dorky Q, Naomie Harris’ spunky Moneypenny, etc.) to Jeffrey Wright’s first appearance as Felix Leiter since Quantum of Solace. Finally, we come to the latest main antagonist of the Bond series, Rami Malek’s Safin, whose role in the story has been one of the more polarizing elements of the film. From what I can tell, this is mainly because some feel that he isn’t in it that much which, admittedly, has sort of been a recent trend with Bond villains as both Javier Bardem’s Silva and even Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld had rather limited screentime in Skyfall and Spectre, respectively. For what it’s worth, though, Malek does succeed in making Safin a legitimately sinister antagonist, especially thanks to the appropriately oft-kilter vibe that Malek gives him.

For the longest time, none of the actors who have played James Bond have ever had a great final film… with No Time to Die, Daniel Craig officially breaks that curse. Aside from just being another great example of this franchise’s penchant for top-notch action set-pieces and thrilling globe-trotting adventures, No Time to Die also does a beautiful job of maintaining one of the strongest elements of the Craig-era Bond films, their strong sense of emotional poignancy. While this era of the franchise may have started with James Bond being subjected to all the character beats that made him… well, James Bond, this Bond has also undergone a noticeable evolution for a character who was once described by Judi Dench’s M (albeit back in the Brosnan era, but the point still stands) as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” and a “relic of the Cold War”. In other words, regardless of how much it will inevitably piss off longtime fans of the franchise, No Time to Die effectively updates its main protagonist for the current cinematic landscape, thus resulting in a James Bond that no longer beds every single woman that he comes across but is still very much the coolest guy in the room. And since the Craig era was the first time in franchise history where subsequent follow-ups were true direct sequels, this allows No Time to Die the chance to effectively tie up any loose ends from the previous four films which, as a result, gives Daniel Craig’s Bond the best kind of send-off that any cinematic protagonist could possibly get.

Rating: 5/5!

Mary Poppins Returns (2018) review

Disney’s 1964 adaptation of P.L. Travers’ classic book series Mary Poppins is a film that needs no introduction. With a lovely visual style, iconic soundtrack by the Sherman brothers, and outstanding lead performances from Julie Andrews as the titular nanny and Dick Van Dyke as her lovable sidekick Bert, Mary Poppins is quite arguably the most beloved Disney film ever made. For starters, it achieved a studio record by earning 13 nominations at the 37^th annual Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and ultimately won 5, with Andrews winning the Oscar for Best Actress. And with a total box-office gross of over $102 million achieved through its initial release and additional re-releases, it’s safe to say that this is a film that has continued to stand the test of time. One person who didn’t like the film, however, was P.L. Travers. As dramatized in the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks, the film’s pre-production mostly consisted of disagreements between Travers and Walt Disney over changes that the latter and his team were making to her story. And because of all these creative conflicts, Travers forbid Disney from ever making a sequel… that is, until 2015, when the studio got the approval from Travers’ estate to do a sequel to the original classic. Under the direction of veteran filmmaker Rob Marshall, who’s no stranger to musicals having directed the 2002 Best Picture winner Chicago and Disney’s 2014 adaptation of the popular Broadway show Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns is not just a remake of the original Mary Poppins as many feared it would be when it was first announced. And while this new film does ultimately share quite a few things in common with its predecessor, it still comes together nicely for a truly heartwarming family flick.

It has been twenty-five years since Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt), the magical nanny who’s ‘practically perfect in every way’, came to the Banks family and changed their lives for the better. In the years since, Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw), who still lives at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, has started a family of his own with three kids, his daughter Annabel (Pixie Davies) and his two sons John (Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (Joel Dawson). However, since the passing of his wife Kate one year prior, the family has been dealing with serious financial troubles which have only been made worse by the onslaught of the Great Depression. And to make matters worse, Michael is notified by his lawyers that he only has a few days to pay off the loan that he made after his wife’s passing or he and his family will be forced out of their home. To try and fix the problem, Michael and his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) try to find the certificate that verifies their father’s shares at Fidelity Fiduciary Bank while Michael’s kids attempt to earn the money on their own accord. Luckily for all of them, Mary Poppins ends up coming back into the family’s lives, agreeing to look after Annabel, John, and Georgie while Michael and Jane deal with their current predicament. And just like their father and aunt before them, the new crop of Banks children discover the full extent of Mary Poppins’ magical abilities, which she uses with the help of a friendly lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) to turn their luck around.

Now let me start by saying that, while I usually try not to directly agree with popular opinion, I will admit that I do concur with one of the most common points that are being brought up about this film in that it has quite a bit in common with its predecessor. The main plot isn’t that different from the original save for a more tension-filled climax and a more pronounced villain. Heck, even the songs in this film’s soundtrack have similar set-ups to the ones from the original, from a show-stopping dance number to lighten the mood like ‘Step in Time’ to an uplifting grand finale tune a la ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’. And yet, despite all this, the film does a great job of maintaining the heartwarming atmosphere of the original Mary Poppins without being a direct carbon copy of it. Even with a similar plot, this new film is on par with the original when it comes to having a strong sense of emotional depth throughout via the Banks family’s current gloomy predicament and how they overcome it with the help of Mary Poppins. This is then matched nicely with all the whimsical adventures that Mary and the Banks children go on, and just like the original, this film boasts a gorgeous visual style throughout right down to the inclusion of a sequence where the characters interact with traditionally-animated characters. As for the soundtrack, courtesy of Hairspray songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, it generally matches the Sherman brothers’ soundtrack for the original film in terms of how perfectly well- balanced it is. In other words, there are just as many great emotional melodies in this (e.g. a heart-wrenching solo for Michael, ‘A Conversation’, and Mary Poppins’ big solo ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’) as there are grandiose show-tunes (e.g. ‘Trip a Little Light Fantastic’ which, as previously mentioned, is basically this film’s version of ‘Step in Time’).

Clearly, a lot of expectations were set upon this film given the pedigree of its predecessor, and perhaps no one felt this greater than Emily Blunt when it came to her taking on the role of Mary Poppins from Julie Andrews. Luckily for Blunt, her take on the whimsical English nanny is a wonderful performance that fully allows her to make the part her own. Specifically, she gets to go off Travers’ books a bit more by having her Mary be a bit snarkier with the Banks family. However, the compassion that she has for them, AKA the one thing that made Andrews’ take on the character vastly different from the books but iconic nevertheless, is still there, providing a unique balance between book and film. And just like Andrews did with Dick Van Dyke all those years ago, Blunt works wonderfully off Lin-Manuel Miranda as this film’s ‘Bert’, Jack the lamplighter. But just like Blunt, Miranda manages to make his character more than just a copy of his predecessor, whether it’s through an opportunity for Miranda to show off his freestyle roots or a sweet little romance that forms between him and Jane. Speaking of the Banks children, both Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer are excellent in their respective roles, with Whishaw getting some of the most understated emotional moments in the film and Mortimer making the most out of what is basically the equivalent of Glynis Johns’ role from the original as Winifred Banks. The new Banks children are great as well thanks in large part to the strong sibling camaraderie between them that is apparent right out the gate. Lastly, just like the original, this film features some highly memorable cameos throughout, including Meryl Streep as Mary’s eccentric cousin/fix-it shop owner Topsy and even the one and only Dick Van Dyke as Fidelity Fiduciary Bank chairman Mr. Dawes Jr., a nod to his secondary role in the original as Mr. Dawes Sr.  

In short, it’s true that the new Mary Poppins has quite a lot in common with the original classic. Not only does it have a near-similar plot to its predecessor, but even its new soundtrack mirrors the original in terms of both song placement and premise. As such, the inevitable argument regarding this film’s necessity continues to be in play, especially given Disney’s current trend of revitalizing some of their classic stories for a new generation. But to be clear, this is not just a ‘remake’ of the original Mary Poppins (believe me, if it was, then it would’ve been dead in the water as soon as it was announced given how intense the internet gets about stuff like this). Yes, it feels like the original in a lot of ways, but considering how great the original Mary Poppins truly is, this isn’t such a bad thing in this instance. Under the solid direction of Rob Marshall, this film nobly follows in the footsteps of its predecessor when it comes to achieving that perfect balance of thoroughly emotional family drama and whimsical fantasy. The soundtrack by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman is quite arguably on par with the Sherman brothers’ iconic soundtrack from the original and the film maintains the same great visual style of its predecessor. And with a terrific ensemble cast headlined by Emily Blunt’s phenomenal turn as Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Returns is easily one of the most delightful films to come out in recent years. Admittedly, I can’t say that it’s ‘better’ than the original, but it’s still very much a worthy follow-up to one of the most beloved Disney films of all-time. And to be perfectly frank, in these dark times that we’re currently facing, this is exactly the kind of film that we need right now.

Rating: 5/5!

In the Heart of the Sea (2015): Short Review

(It’s only a short review this week because, well, with you know what coming out soon I wanted to make sure this review was done before I ‘go dark’ on social media on Monday to avoid unwanted spoilers. In the meantime, please enjoy this review of ‘In the Heart of the Sea’.)

When it comes to ‘Great American Novels’, stories that became a vital part of America’s cultural history, arguably none are more famous than ‘Moby Dick’. Written by novelist Herman Melville in 1851, ‘Moby Dick’ told the story of Captain Ahab and his obsession with killing the titular Moby Dick, the sperm whale that had destroyed his ship and took one of his legs. While the novel failed to attract much attention commercially upon its initial release, it ended up getting more and more attention over time until it became one of the most iconic stories of all-time. In the film/TV world, ‘Moby Dick’ has been seen quite a few adaptations over the years. There have been some straight-forward adaptations, with the most famous being the 1956 John Huston directed film starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, some ‘retellings’ through classic cartoons like ‘Tom and Jerry’ and ‘The Flintstones’, and some films have even implemented references to the novel into their stories, like ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ with many of Khan’s quotes lifted directed from the novel itself.  But what some of you may not know is that the story of ‘Moby Dick’ was partially inspired by a real-life incident involving a giant whale; the 1820 sinking of the whaling ship Essex. In 2000, this story was told via the novel ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ written by Nathaniel Philbrick. 15 years later, Ron Howard directs the film adaptation of the event that inspired one of the most classic stories of all-time. And while the film may not entirely capture the ‘epic’ scale of its source material, it’s still a very engaging old-fashioned adventure.

For the record, if you’re going into this film expecting a lot of whale-ship action, you might be a bit disappointed because that only takes up about one-third of the film. Instead, the film is more about the crew of the Essex as they try to survive after being shipwrecked. Though with that said, for a story as grand in scale as this one, admittedly it feels a bit truncated at times. By that I mean certain parts of the story feel a bit rushed. The film is only two hours long and it does fly by really quick. As a result, it does feel like the film sort of glosses over some important parts of the plot, like the rivalry between Essex’s First Mate Owen Chase and Captain George Pollard Jr., the former being an experienced whaler and the latter being an inexperienced seaman who mainly got the position of Captain as a result of his heritage, and some parts of the crew’s days lost at sea. Though ultimately while the film could’ve definitely benefitted from a heftier runtime, I still found myself admiring the film for its simple old-fashioned execution via Ron Howard’s direction. It’s a simple story of man vs. nature and while the film may not carry as much emotional depth as it’s looking for, there are still quite a few excellent moments peppered in here and there. In particular, the big sequence involving the whale attacking the ship is definitely a highlight and an intense action sequence. And despite the shortcomings with story and character development, the film does feature a solid cast of leads from Chris Hemsworth, who undergoes quite a physical transformation unexpected from someone like the God of Thunder, to new Spider-Man Tom Holland.

Ultimately if you’re in the mood for a simple, old-fashioned tale of survival, you’ll probably enjoy ‘In the Heart of the Sea’. It has some flaws but overall I still recommend it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Spectre (2015) review

It was just over a decade ago when Daniel Craig became the sixth actor to take on the role of James Bond for Eon Productions. But, just like with pretty much any actor or actress who takes on a major role in a comic book film, Craig’s casting led to a ton of backlash by fans of the franchise. Simply put, many believed that the 5’10’’ blond-haired Englishman did not fit the ‘tall, dark’ description of the character both described in Ian Fleming’s original novels and portrayed by Craig’s predecessors in the role. But, thankfully, Craig managed to prove his biggest critics wrong with his first film, 2006’s ‘Casino Royale’, which served as a reboot of the franchise after the critically bashed ‘Die Another Day’. Instead of the campy gadget-filled escapades of the franchise’s older days, ‘Casino Royale’ took on a much edgier and grounded route while Craig portrayed Bond as an emotionally driven and more vulnerable character, again compared to his predecessors. The end result was simply perfection as far as the franchise was concerned… and then his second Bond film, 2008’s ‘Quantum of Solace’, ending up being a major disappointment. It may have had something to do with the Writer’s Strike that was going on at the time but even then the film was extremely bland as far as Bond films went. Thankfully, Craig’s run as Bond rebounded with 2012’s ‘Skyfall’. Under the excellent and classy direction of Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, the film served as both a fitting commemoration of the franchise as it celebrated its 50^th anniversary and another ‘re-invention’ of the franchise in this modern technological world.

Three years later, Craig, Mendes, and the new cast of primary Bond allies that were introduced in ‘Skyfall’, are back for the franchise’s 24^th installment, and Craig’s fourth official Bond film, ‘Spectre’. As the title suggests, this film re-introduces the franchise’s classic criminal organization of the same name; ‘Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion’ (disclaimer: this acronym is not used in the film). SPECTRE played a major part in the Sean Connery/George Lazenby era of the franchise but had been absent from the franchise since its last appearance in 1971’s ‘Diamonds are Forever’. This was mainly due to copyright issues that had initially spawned from legal disputes between Ian Fleming and ‘Thunderball’ co-writer Kevin McClory, which subsequently affected Eon Productions for more than four decades. MGM finally managed to get the rights back to SPECTRE in 2013 and immediately implemented the organization into ‘Bond 24’. But now the question is how Mendes’ second Bond film turned out. Well, despite what the rather low 62% rating on RT may suggest, ‘Spectre’ is another rock solid entry of this long-running franchise. Now while I don’t want to make any major comparisons to ‘Skyfall’, I will admit that this film can be rather predictable in terms of the writing. But even with that said, this is still very much a Sam Mendes directed Bond film that manages to be a well-crafted and classy spy thriller in almost every way.

After a unauthorized mission in Mexico City ordered by the previous M before her death (Judi Dench makes a brief video message cameo) in which he kills an assassin by the name of Marco Sciarra (Alessandro Cremona), MI6 Agent 007 James Bond (Daniel Craig) is taken off field duty by his boss, the new M (Ralph Fiennes), who is in the middle of dealing with the recent merger between MI5 and MI6 headed by Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) that could end up resulting in the shuttering of the ‘00’ section. Meanwhile, against orders, Bond begins an investigation into the mysterious organization known as Spectre that Sciarra was a member of. His probing soon leads to him crossing paths once again with an old foe, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), as Bond learns that White, whose organization Quantum is revealed to have been a subsidiary of Spectre, has a daughter named Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) who, like him, is being pursued by the organization. Bond finds Madeleine and the two, with the help of Bond’s MI6 allies Q (Ben Whishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), venture off in order to uncover the mysterious plans of Spectre. This ultimately leads Bond into having to deal with a ‘ghost from his past’ in the form of Spectre’s mysterious leader, Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), who as it turns out has a very special connection with Bond.

As far as the plot is concerned, ‘Spectre’ is admittedly much more predictable than its immediate predecessor. A certain reveal about the main villain is pretty darn obvious given both the history of the franchise and the fact that pretty much everyone on the internet predicted it just like they did with Khan in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’. Not only that, but one of the main plot-points in the film about a new intelligence system reminded me of, of all things, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. In other words, this film is a much more straight-forward entry in the franchise compared to ‘Skyfall’. But at the end of the day, I’m totally fine with that. Even with some of the story’s shortcomings, Sam Mendes’ direction is just as excellent as it was in his previous Bond film. The action sequences are once again superb, from the film’s terrific pre-credits sequence that takes place in Mexico City during the ‘Day of the Dead’ festivities to the intense hand-to-hand fight scene on a train between Bond and Spectre operative Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista in a short but definitely memorable henchman role). Sadly Roger Deakins didn’t return to do the cinematography this time but ‘Interstellar’s Hoyte van Hoytema is a more-than-suitable replacement. And despite what I said before about the writing’s predictability, one thing that I did really love about this film’s story was how it managed to connect certain events and characters from all of Craig’s previous Bond films and tie them all to Spectre. And just like how ‘Skyfall’ focused on Judi Dench’s M dealing with a ghost from her past, this film’s plot sees Bond’s past coming back to haunt him.

Four films in, what more can be said about Daniel Craig as Bond? He’s just as excellent as he’s been in his last three Bond films. But with that said, one of the best things about Craig’s performances in the Mendes-directed films in particular is that he’s been able to have the chance to bring back the character’s sense of wit that was rather absent from his first two Bond films. And believe me when I say that this film definitely delivers in terms of its witty dialogue; after all, no Bond film is complete is without a few highly quotable lines. As the main villain, Christoph Waltz admittedly isn’t in the film that much to be as memorable as Javier Bardem was as Silva in ‘Skyfall’ but does manage to bring the right amount of diabolical charm and intimidation required for the role whenever he does appear onscreen. And without giving anything away, Waltz was a perfect choice for this role. As far as the film’s ‘Bond Girls’ are concerned, Monica Bellucci, who plays Lucia, the widow of the assassin that Bond killed in the opening, really only has a ‘cameo role’ in the film as she appears in only two scenes near the beginning. But as for the film’s main leading lady, Lea Seydoux is arguably the film’s biggest standout. Dare I say she even outshines Craig? Madeleine Swann might not be a vengeful spy like Bond but she’s still a very strong-willed woman reminiscent of classic Bond girls like Natalya Simonova and Tracy Bond. And of course, all of the returning regulars from ‘Skyfall’ are great as well, from Q (Ben Whishaw continues to be a worthy successor to the great Desmond Lleweyn) to Moneypenny (Naomie Harris continues to have solid flirtatious chemistry with Craig).

I don’t want this to seem like I’m pointing any fingers at anybody but I have the feeling that the rather low RT score for this film was partially due to certain critics negatively comparing this film to ‘Skyfall’, which in my opinion is a rather unfair thing to do. I don’t believe that Bond films should be compared to each other as if they were just sequels, save for the franchise’s only true sequel to date, ‘Quantum of Solace’, because they are all their own separate stories that just so happen to be a part of the same franchise. And even though ‘Skyfall’ has ended up becoming my favorite Bond film to date, I didn’t go into this film expecting it to be ‘better’ than its predecessor. And ultimately while I do feel that ‘Skyfall’ is still the better film, I don’t hold that against ‘Spectre’. It’s rumored that this may be Daniel Craig’s last Bond film and if that ends up being the case, then he does manage to end his tenure as Bond on a much better note than some of his predecessors like Pierce Brosnan or Roger Moore. Sure, ‘Spectre’ can be rather predictable in terms of its plot, namely a reveal that the internet figured out months beforehand, but that doesn’t mean it is, to quote a review by someone who won’t be named, ‘the worst Bond film in 30 years’. Whereas ‘Skyfall’ was a reawakening for the Bond franchise in which Bond dealt with the possibility of being obsolete in this modern world, ‘Spectre’ is very much a tribute to the classic Bond films of yesteryear.

Rating: 4.5/5