The Bond franchise has always been about mass appeal, gorgeous women and the suave British spy who saves the world. The latest instalment in the series, Spectre, is the same bag of old tricks. It’s slick, but has faults. Plenty in fact. Spectre is one of the most expensive films yet made, yet behind all the explosions and exotic sites, there is very little substance.
It never attempts to elevate the status of Bond beyond mere popcorn entertainment and the healthy budget just made Bond more corny. The outlandish villains are not believable, the stunts feel overdone and the story, though paying homage to tradition, is flat. It often feels like you’re watching a Bond reboot, not an original concept.
The film has an overlapping storyline to other Bond movies, and some characters reappear. All in all, you feel like you’re watching an imposter Bond film. The acting is bad, although former professional wrestler Dave Bautista steals the show with his robotic portrayal of Mr Hinx, a high-ranking member of the criminal organisation Spectre.
He is pitted against the ever-suave Daniel Craig as Bond and the pair would be better suited in a spoof movie. In fact Spy, the send-up of James Bond released earlier this year, is a far more worthy entry in the genre. The story of Spectre is too complicated, as if the writers wanted to break the Bond mould by not breaking the mould.
There’s simply too much going on and eventually it become exhausting to watch. The story is also interspersed with heavy doses of action that never offer you a break to sit back and enjoy the film.
However, there’s two surprisingly good aspects of the film: Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and the cliffhanger ending. Harris is a surge of energy on the screen and is one of the few believable additions to the film. In a film that is so flashy, she makes the show a little more tolerable. Above all, the surprise ending will have fans of the film series talking and guessing for months.
If you’re a fan of action movies, Spectre will thrill you. If you’re a fan of Bond, you may just leave disappointed.
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