When SPECTRE, the latest James Bond blockbuster, hit theaters in November 2015, I couldn't help but feel that its response was underwhelming, at best. I saw it that first weekend and I thought it was a pretty good show. It wasn't Skyfall, but it wasn't bad. Now, months later and a couple weeks after its release on Blu-ray and DVD, I still don't sense that there is any more excitement about the film that before. Few (if any) of my friends and known associates talked about seeing the movie in theaters and I'm not aware of anyone that ran out to the store to pick it up, now that it's on sale.
I think we can all agree that Lea Seydoux is the least attractive Bond girl of all time, but, other than that, I have a hard time understanding why SPECTRE wasn't a very popular Bond movie. It sits at a measly 63% on Rotten Tomatoes with an equally mediocre rating from audiences. I can think of a couple things that I wasn't necessarily wild about, but I truly believe, overall, that it deserves a bit more credit than it received. I'd like to list five of them in this blog.
[From this point forward, SPECTRE will be discussed in detail, including major spoilers.]
The dead are alive
"Writing's on the Wall"
Before I had even heard the song, I had heard that some people were unhappy with Sam Smith's theme song, "Writing's on the Wall." I'm still not sure why anybody disliked it. Again, it's not "Skyfall," which Adele knocked out of the park for the last film, but the more I heard Smith's take on the song, the more I liked it. What's more, if you can manage to ignore the practically naked dancers in the title sequence, I've always thought that the Daniel Craig intros have been quite good at storytelling. The opening credits play on the nostalgia of fans of the Daniel Craig era, giving nods to characters from the previous three Bond films, including Javier Bardem's Silva (Skyfall), Eva Green's Vesper (Casino Royale) and our dearly departed M, iconically portrayed by Dame Judy Dench. (Rest her soul.) Once the opening credits wrap, Sam Smith and the folks at MGM have you raring to go as the stage is set for SPECTRE.The car chase
The fancy cars. The unloaded ammunition. "New York, New York" blasting from the stereo. Bond practically pushing the slow driver out of his way, only to have the old man land perfectly in a parking spot with an airbag to the face. The flames from the exhaust and the ejector seat. That's a fun scene that gives you pretty much everything you could hope for from a Bond car chase.
Honorable mention: Bond's airplane scene that ultimately ends in him driving the dang thing through a barn. Oh, baby.
Batista
After his success in Guardians of the Galaxy, I was excited to hear that former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista had earned a role as a Bond villain. The dude is a beast, no bones about it, and he's as physically imposing as ever in this role. Hinx is right up there, in terms of physicality, with any other Bond baddie. Who else compares? Jaws, certainly, but is there anyone else as overpowering as Batista? One of my favorite moments of his during is the fight scene on the train when he swats a cooking pot out of the air with his forearm. (#baller) It's just a shame that he's used so little in the film. His death is implied as he gets whipped out of the train and any possibility of him returning in a future film is practically impossible, but hey - we can dream, can't we?
Honorable mention: It's also nice to see Q (Ben Whishaw) and the new M (Ralph Fiennes) in action - and out in the field! I like these new guys.
Franz Oberhauser: What's in a name?
Some might argue that SPECTRE's weakest aspect is its main villain. They might say that Christoph Waltz's Oberhauser was "just some boring guy that we all knew was going to end up being Bond's brother." They might say, "We knew they he was going to be Bond's long-lost brother simply by watching the trailer. Big whoop." Big whoop? Big whoop?? My goodness, people! Have you no knowledge of nor familiarity with Bond films past?
It is revealed during one of the movie's most tense plot points that Franz Oberhauser, the man with such historical ties to James Bond (yes, indeed, they are adoptive brothers) at some point in life changed his name, nay, his identity, becoming a man fictitiously renamed Ernst Stavro Blofeld. ERNST STAVRO BLOFELD, PEOPLE!! Blofeld is, like, Bond's arch-nemesis! He is the most classic of all James Bond villains! He either appeared in or made his presence known in at least seven other films, so, other than 007, himself, he should be the most recognized character in any of the movies. No? Is this not ringing any bells? Did a light bulb not go off in your mind when you saw him holding a white cat? Did you not realize that this is the character that inspired Austin Powers' "Doctor Evil"? I think the biggest problem with the Blofeld Bomb was that too many moviegoers had no idea who he was supposed to be. While I was geeking out of my mind, the majority of the theater was probably thinking, "Ernst who??" Ugh. So disappointing.
I mean, we should have seen it coming, right? Blofeld was the head of SPECTRE in the old movies. Why wouldn't he be the big wig in this one? But I had no idea. Not a clue. I didn't see it coming and was genuinely surprised by the reveal. The idea that Blofeld is "the author of all of [Bond's] pain" was a nice touch - that he was the one that orchestrated most (if not all) of Bond's tragic losses, including those of Vesper and M. Unbeknownst to us all, Blofeld has been pulling the strings all along.
At a pivotal point in the film, Blofeld is gravely injured, leaving him his a nasty scar on one side of his face - his trademark physical feature. It was inevitable. It had to happen. And when it did, the transformation was complete. Guys... they rebooted Blofeld. Is that not amazing? What's even more exciting is that he didn't die. No, no. He's still alive and he'll be back for more movies. In my opinion, this is the best thing that came out of SPECTRE.
"Cuckoo!"
Conclusion
SPECTRE is a good Bond movie. It's not Skyfall and it's not Goldeneye, but, thankfully, it's not Moonraker or A View to a Kill, either. If this is Daniel Craig's final go in the tuxedo, you know what? He made me a believer. I was a harsh critic of his in the months leading up to his debut as 007 in Casino Royale and I think that Quantum of Solace was the worst Bond flick since Tomorrow Never Dies, but he was spectacular in Skyfall and did a good job in SPECTRE. He infamously insinuated that his days as James Bond were over, even commenting that he'd rather slit his wrists than do another movie. The degree of sarcasm contained in that comment is up for debate and it's also rumored that Craig is under contract for one more film, so I guess we'll see what happens. However, if this truly is his last movie, he got the girl (yuck) and rode off into the sunset, quite literally, so I suppose it would be a fitting end for his stint with the PP7. Only time will tell.
Did you see SPECTRE? Did you hate it? Did you like it? Was it the best/worst movie you've ever seen? Let SotT: Underground know in the comments below.
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN.
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