Spectre – Bond back on form

Do you remember the protest when Daniel Craig was announced as the next Bond? He wasn’t suave enough. He’s not tall enough. He’s too blonde. He looks a little bit like Shrek. People got seriously worked up about it: one dissenter even went to the lengths of creating the website danielcraigisnotbond.com.

How smug Craig must’ve felt then, when the release of Casino Royale silenced the criticism. Following the OTT theatrics of Die Another Day, it was the antidote required to refresh the franchise. This was Bond, but not as we knew him: gone were the indulgent one-liners and the ridiculous gadgets. We were introduced to someone at the beginning of their espionage career. Someone yet to receive double-0 status. Not only that, but the film ended on heartbreak, with James being jilted. After resigning from MI6 for Vesper Lynd, he discovers that she’s eloped with the winnings of a poker tournament – to save another man’s life, no less.

Fast-forward three films and you arrive at Spectre. Spectre begins in a way that none of Craig’s Bonds have done so far: he walks across our screen; that unforgettable, instantly recognisable riff plays; Bond stops, faces us and shoots; the music reaches fever pitch; blood cascades down the screen. Yep – it’s the traditional gun barrel sequence. It sets the tone for the opening scene, a swaggering, cocksure tracking shot of Bond making his way through the crowds at the Dia De Los Muertos parades in Mexico City. Bond makes his way up to a third-floor hotel room and heads out to the rooftops. The camera follows. What comes after that is one of the most spectacular action sequences of any Bond film.

Skyfall showed signs of it, but Spectre cemented the fact: the Bond of old was back, in the best way possible. The film managed to look back and encompass the best-loved tropes of Bond, while keeping one eye fixed forward. On one hand, we’re dealing with an enemy who appears cat-in-lap and whose organisation have a secret base in a meteor-impact crater; and, on the other, the film grapples with the issue-at-large of state surveillance, casting a nod to Ed Snowden and sticking two fingers up at the NSA. The comedy is sharp (as are the suits) and there’s plenty of tongue-in-cheek allusions to Bond canon. But we also see a female lead (played with aplomb by Léa Seydoux) that is Bond’s equal: in Seydoux’s words, she is “not really a Bond girl – she’s a real character” 

Sure, the film does have its flaws: Cristoph Waltz’s screen-time is far too brief. There’s also a bad casting choice in Andrew Scott that makes it a bit too easy for the audience to connect-the-dots. Ironically, it can also – at times – be too challenging to connect the dots: Spectre’s referencing of Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace and Skyfall places too much faith in its audience’s memory.

But we should consider these four films as a tetralogy. And, when you consider the four films together, the development in character that Craig’s Bond undergoes strengthens the impact of Spectre’s ending. There’s speculation as to whether Craig will return as Bond for any future installments, but one thing is for sure: his Bond will go down in history.

Other flicks we’re looking forward to this year:

It’s not often that a film trailer manages to revert us into a giddy state of childish excitement, but Star Wars: The Force Awakens managed to do just that. And, with JJ Abrams at the helm and the original cast of Ford, Fisher and Hamill getting back together, it’s looking set to exceed our expectations.

Brooklyn: Saoirse Ronan delivers an awards-worthy performance in this transatlantic period film that tells the story of Eilis Lacey, an Irish immigrant trying to ground herself in ‘50s Brooklyn.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part Two: J-Law returns as Katniss Everdeen in the final instalment of the series. Also features a final performance from the dearly missed Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Grab £5 cinema tickets on YPlan here and keep up with the latest and greatest blockbusters.