As of this date the last Bond movie released, I know there is at least one more with Daniel Craig and then he’s done. While I get where people are coming from regarding the “big twist” that basically everyone saw coming I did not think this film was too bad. Spoilers ahead as usual.
On a posthumous mission from M (Judi Dench) Bond kills a crime boss in Mexico City before he plants a bomb and takes his ring, which has an octopus on it. Because of it the current M (Ralph Fiennes) suspends Bond from field duty while in the midst of a power struggle that wants to take away the double O program, calling it outdated, and replace it with a global surveillance intelligence initiative called Nine Eyes backed by a man named Max Denbigh whom Bond calls C (Andrew Scott). Bond, along with Moneypenny (Naomi Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) disobey M, and travels to Rome to attend the funeral of the man he killed. Seducing the widow Lucia (Monica Belluci), she tells him her husband belonged to an organization with criminal and terrorist get together. Bond manages to sneak in, but is identified by the leader Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) forcing him to flee in a pretty epic car chase between Bond and an assassin known as Hinx (Dave Bautista). Hearing that someone called the Pale King is to be killed, Bond (thanks to Moneypenny) reunites with Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) for a brief period to get information. White, already dying of thallium poison, kills himself but not before he makes Bond promise to find and protect his daughter Dr. Madeline Swann (Lea Seydoux). Bond, Madeline and Q soon discover that all the villains from Bonds past (at least in the Craig movies) are connected to Spectre and to Oberhauser who is from Bonds past but is under a different name (yeah no shocker here that he was Blofeld) and that Nine Eyes has something to do with the final plan. Not on Bonds watch.
Like I said before this film isn’t bad, but it was also kinda predictable. Everybody knew Waltz was going to be Blofeld, even when they said no it’s this guy did not have people buying it, also the reason why is kind dumb. Craig I thought was good, not great this time as Bond, I think at this point he is kinda done with the role, but he has at least one more film and then I believe he is officially done. My thoughts on Swann will be later so moving on. I was glad we got to see more of Moneypenny as a secretary, but with her field agent background, Q playing a bigger part and M getting some action in as well. However I don’t want them to go overboard with the characters going forward just because the actors have bigger names, but now that I said something. Overall Spectre is a good, not fantastic, addition to the Bond franchise and I for one cannot wait for the next one. On a final note I LOVED the Oscar winning song “Writing’s on the Walls” by Sam Smith, very hauntingly beautiful. It makes me excited to hear the next one.
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