While many of you are wondering why I have Roger Moore as the former James Bond, is a hell of a lot of reasons to do with this movie. Watching James Bond growing up became more like an event rather than just a chore, and in most Bond films they all tend to be ranging from good to amazing, rarely will you see that OK Bond movie that shines out from the good, or in that case a dirt smudge on franchise that needs to be cleaned with proper direction and vision. In the case of how these Bond films have churned out, they have been nothing more than experimental films desperately captivating the views of pop-culture demand & Hollywood's new business vision of Easter egg and enclosed universes which all mesh into that one film SPECTRE
The film begins I guess sometime after Skyfall, where our main lead Daniel Craig as James Bond is yet on another mission but yet directed from the late M played by Judi Dench to hunt down a man and kill him. This leads to the revelation of a secret organized group that has been mentioned or even thought about (if I remember it was Quantum but whatever) SPECTRE which leads Bond on a hunt to stop this organization for....yea because Bond is curious? I guess you can say that. Also, that subplot of Bond being yet again disavowed, grounded, fired, left for dead, yea same old story for the past 4 films on why James Bond is not fully James Bond. I may come off as harsh on this movie, but I assure you there is a lot to love rather than hate, in fact it is a confusing masterpiece because I have to ahead and evaluate the other 4 films as well as a whole.
I loved Casino Royale, it brought in a Bond that made sense to the filmmakers at hand, to create someone new and kinetic where as the Bond before was still a bit rusty (Pierce Brosnan, Die Another Day) but this Bond seems more like the action hero of the new generation. Equipped with parkour, high-flying action (LITERALLY), great drama and a great female lead all exploring the origin of James Bond. It no doubt stands as one of those true gem James Bond films. Then you get that thrown in cliffhanger for the sequel where the opening of Quantum of Solace suggests as it continues onward. It trudges along a story of revenge, love and even heart-break that makes this James seems more of a whimp. Did I mention up and close personal action scenes where the camera just so happens to be on drugs (Bourne Supremacy & Ultimatum), it wasn't a bad film but it wasn't even close to good. It felt like the type of film that passes by, giving us that bittersweet ending of Bond forgiving. Then you get Skyfall, which of course is the one Bond film again manages to stick to an origin-esque beginning of Bond. In case you didn't know, you are still in an origin film guys! Complete with great action, a suspenseful villain as also memorable, a personal conflict to evolve James Bond.....again...and also add in the new generation of Q. Nonetheless a great movie with some flaws but nothing too noticeable to have me hate the movie. The ending revealing that Bond is truly a SECRET AGENT 007. I love how the film just manages to play that off with us as we venture to the next step of Bond's origins, not only that a return to the male M from the old films and the death of Judi Dench's M.
So are we moved on from the entire origin story? Not really well maybe so or maybe not. Its one biggest gripe on this film that I have is that Bond is always in this dilemma has having to be grounded, fired, excommunicated or whatever it is that happens to be a reason from the big honchos not to trust Bond. It is so contrived that even Die Another Day had pulled that story off as well, but as if the writers just love to see Bond prove his superiors wrong....again....and again......and......again. How about that villain organization SPECTRE? Are they worth the villainy? Yea and no. This film is all an adventure, there is no suspense, no build up, it all is an investigation set in the adventure genre. A lot of it means that they have to sacrifice investigation for SPECTRE character development. Nothing is truly known about this group than our main villain Franz Oberhauser or AKA Blofeld. Such a random reason to be Blofeld other than life sucks and I am mad so why not just be named Blofeld, fake my death and blah blah blah, none of it matters honestly. So much questions that are left unanswered for this villainous group, and with Blofeld has the head, he seems rather dull
Again, this seems rather hateful rather than showing some praise. I loved Craigs take on Bond, which is why I connect it to the Roger Moore Bond, he is so much more charismatic, so loose with his character and also quite funny. I was beginning to hate this brooding Bond we were growing accustomed to, and not because it is bad, but for 3 films he is the same ever evolving character where this character in Spectre feels fully confident in doing what he does. I love that. That is Bond in my eyes, and so far these three films have stood back on that to try to break James Bond I guess, and nothing is wrong with that given the extreme cliche nature of his character, but it felt good to just harken back to what makes him so great but still adding layers to the character not yet found in previous films. By the way it is not just Craig who is a joy in this movie, it is the entire cast. Even Blofeld was a delight and had pretty much the best lines out of the entire movie, but what do you expect from Christoph Waltz who displays that evil shit bag villain stereotype.
Ben Whisaw as Q again displays a funny clever Q seen from the previous films in the past played by the late Desmond Llewelyn. Of course they both have great banter among one another, but who else is great? M for sure, as his role is a giant subplot that is connected with SPECTRE as he works with a new character Max Denbigh who happens to work also with SPECTRE trying to ensure MI6 is kept on extreme watch via NSA style. Back to the bad, the villains motivation for world domination is clever for trying to relate to real world issues such as Ed Snowden leaking NSA files that connected it to them listening in and watching our every move, but again, that is their master plan? Not saying any of Craigs villains had great villainy plans, but this is the head of the organization. Nuke a [frick]ing country or something, its like the older villains show they had more balls entirely than the new generation villains I see.
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How about that old iconic henchmen side missing from the Bond films lately. This again harkens back to the old films with iconic henchmen that are a threat to James Bond physically and boy oh boy Mr. Hinx pulls it off played by Dave Bautista where yea short of lines but except for his one line of dialog SHIT, but he plays such a menacing physical role it is hard not to like this new addition to the series. The Bond girl was great this time around, but again I feel she is much more forced than I thought. Having a Bond girl is yes a commandment in Bond films but she seemed to lack really the quality touch of you know....giving a damn. I guess Skyfall is one where it no doubt pulled it off, unless Judi Dench was that Bond girl, that Bond just couldn't bang..........oh my god.....
So what can I say in my final thoughts? Is it the Bond film I hoped for? Well sort of. I do admire that Sam Mendes tried to harken his inner fanboy in this one, adding in as much Easter eggs as possible and even adding some fun with the character rather than whoring off another reason on why Bond is Bond. These 4 films have been nothing but that, and I guess Spectre is somewhat IS & ISN'T that in some respect. I get why he would be grounded, but is this another reason for audiences to accept his reckless behavior as a 00 agent, its pointlessly ill addressed in this situation as if the writers themselves stopped caring about giving little origins to reasons of Bond films. That is what these 4 films represent, THE ORIGIN STORY. Told through a massive progressive way that often tries and tries not to shine in some manner to give us a Bond that is new for this generation. Where this generation wants everything to be explained rather abundantly than not at all. As a Bond fan it is sort of bitter sweet feeling but a happy thinking that we are getting one step closer who James Bond is and what it means for the franchise as a whole.