SPECTRE - Grading & Discussion

[davejames]

C

I know I'm late to the party, but I'm afraid the movie just didn't do much for me. It started out fantastic with the Mexico sequence, but after that just started to become increasingly dull and formulaic.

Craig had little of the emotion and urgency of the previous movies for some reason (or the fun, winking humor of Casino and Skyfall), and the big mystery surrounding Spectre ends up not being particularly interesting or mysterious in the end. In fact I frankly found Quantum in the previous movies to be a more compelling villain.

And other than the opening Mexico sequence and the Bond/Hinx fight, the action was pretty forgettable as well (including the long car chase which somehow isn't nearly as fun or cool as it could have been).

And then of course there's the entire last act, which as others have pointed out online makes no real sense and feels like it was just kind of thrown together:

Spoiler: spoilers

(Blofeld drilling into Bond's head to... erase his memories?, Spectre's entire base blowing up for no reason, a military helicopter being shot out of the sky by a pistol, etc).

It's possible my opinion might improve a bit on a second viewing, but at least right now I'd probably have to rank it down around QoS.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

And other than the opening Mexico sequence and the Bond/Hinx fight, the action was pretty forgettable as well (including the long car chase which somehow isn't nearly as fun or cool as it could have been).

I think it's because the streets were so empty.

Given Bond's history with cars they should have a chase in the future where the ejector mechanism dumps Bond on the road and shoots the car into the air with a parachute.

 

[Aldo]

I heard a lot of criticism about the Rome car chase so maybe my expectations were lowered. But I really enjoyed it, it was really humorous (probably more humorous than any other Craig action sequence) which is probably why I liked it.

 

[Trekker4747]

I thought the Rome car-chase was pretty fantastic, and liked humor in it with Bond fumbling with the car's "gadgets" and some of them not being armed yet.

 

[Starkers]

I can see the issues people have with it, he's being chased by one guy in one car, and Hinx isn't even shooting at him or anything. It does at times feel a little like a car commercial, but having said that I think it looks great and, like you say, it's funny.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I heard a lot of criticism about the Rome car chase so maybe my expectations were lowered. But I really enjoyed it, it was really humorous (probably more humorous than any other Craig action sequence) which is probably why I liked it.

I remember that chase scene starting and wondering to myself how Bond never got stuck behind some of the slowpokes that drive around here, and, lo and behold

 

[Aldo]

That was a great part of the chase, especially when the guys Airbag went off. Sure it was a little silly, but hey, I still laughed.

Another bit that I couldn't stop giggling at was in the beginning when Bond falls and lands on that sofa, and just has a look of utter confusion on his face. It was just so unexpected and was a lot funnier than any of the previous Craig films that it just took me completely by surprise.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^Yeah, I laughed out loud at that too. I also laughed when Q showed Bond the car, then told him it would be going to 009. Craig just went from having this smug grin to a slow burn glare at Q. His comedy timing is much under-rated, IMHO.

 

[Starkers]

Oh yes that was brilliant. And then Q gives him the watch (I did halfway wonder when Q said the alarm was Really Loud whether he was actually being literal which would have made for a funny later, although how the hell 007 would have got out of the chair without it is another matter!)

I like 009's playlist as well!

 

[Saul]

I liked this movie. Way better than Skyfall which didn't do anything for me either. Spectre does have problems though. It is a bit dragged out and Blofeld is underdeveloped, none of the history between him and Bond is really explored. This cries for a sequel about them. Don't know why the Spectre base blew up like that but it screams "this is a film!" and I worry that while it's refreshing see old Bond tropes again I don't want future movies to be like this. Casino Royale is still the best.

 

[Warped9]

The Craig films have gradually brought back certain familiar tropes yet within context of the style and overall tone of the Craig films. Casino Royale remains the most grounded (for a Bond film). What they have avoided is the overt camp and silliness that plagued many of the Bond films since at least Diamonds Are Forever and up through the Brosnan films.

 

[Saul]

Yes but it seems to be on it's way back to that. The car chase was comedy. The Henchman is of Moore era.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Well, arguably henchmen like that originated with Oddjob in Goldfinger.

 

[Warped9]

^ Well, arguably henchmen like that originated with Oddjob in Goldfinger.

Exactly.

One of the things I liked about Casino Royale is that it seemed to revisit the more grounded sensibilities of a film like From Russia With Love.

 

[Saul]

^ Well, arguably henchmen like that originated with Oddjob in Goldfinger.

True. Then later we had Jaws. I suspect we'll see more in the next movie. They were fun but I thought we'd moved past that time.
Not that i'm henchmenist or anything.

 

[DarKush]

I wasn't super impressed with SPECTRE. It was a good looking film, with some good action. I think Christoph Waltz was largely wasted. His first appearance, at the board room was good, but after that, it didn't really go anywhere. His sense of menace started fading. Waltz's motivation didn't work for me, it felt hackneyed, been there, done that. I liked Mr. White and wished he had been more in the film. Maybe even the main villain. Heck, if he had been the mastermind all along while pretending, or they thought he was a flunky, would've been neat for me. I also didn't care for Dr. Swann. She didn't work as a main love interest-I didn't see any chemistry between her and Bond, definitely not enough for Bond to make the decision he makes in the end of the film. I thought Bond had more chemistry with Monica Bellucci's character and wished that she had been the main love interest instead. I thought in Skyfall Bond had nice chemistry with Moneypenny but unfortunately the film limited their screentime together.

Hinx had potential but was largely wasted as well. He had a good opening, but the later car chase sequence went on too long and was boring. His train fight didn't really do much either. They didn't really spend time giving Hinx a personality and just relied on his size.

I had thought Quantum of Solace was the weakest Craig Bond film, but I went back and looked at the other Craig films after SPECTRE. I don't hate Mr. Greene as much as I did in light of SPECTRE. I put him about on the same level as Waltz. Hinx is over Elvis for henchmen. But Montez as partner/not quite love interest, was as interesting as Dr. Swann IMO. So I'm not sure which I think is the at the bottom of Craig's list now.

Casino Royale remains at the top. With Skyfall second.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Well, arguably henchmen like that originated with Oddjob in Goldfinger.

True. Then later we had Jaws. I suspect we'll see more in the next movie. They were fun but I thought we'd moved past that time.
Not that i'm henchmenist or anything.

When you think about it though, Hinx wasn't all that OTT. Jaws had metal teeth and was 7 feet tall. Tee-hee had a metal hook for a hand. Oddjob could crush a golf ball in his hand and had a metal lined bowler hat.

By comparison, Hinx has a wrestler's physique and nail polish and kills people with his bare hands. It was odd that they didn't give him some dialogue, given that GOTG proved that Dave can handle it but really, his size aside - and there are guys that big down my local gym - he wasn't that extravagant a villain. I mean, even the Bourne films have had the silent, deadly assassin types too.

 

[Mr Light]

there was a Bond villain named Tee-hee?

 

[Saul]

^ Well, arguably henchmen like that originated with Oddjob in Goldfinger.

True. Then later we had Jaws. I suspect we'll see more in the next movie. They were fun but I thought we'd moved past that time.
Not that i'm henchmenist or anything.

When you think about it though, Hinx wasn't all that OTT. Jaws had metal teeth and was 7 feet tall. Tee-hee had a metal hook for a hand. Oddjob could crush a golf ball in his hand and had a metal lined bowler hat.

By comparison, Hinx has a wrestler's physique and nail polish....

I might be wrong but I thought his two thumb nails were replaced by metal which was why it was easy to push his thumbs into a person's eyes like that. I thought it was a homage to Jaws.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ You're probably right Saul, that makes more sense.

@Mr Light, yes, one of the villains in Live and Let Die.