A Review of "Spectre"

An epic clash between good and evil as with all other James Bond films seems to be characteristic of "Spectre" as well. That might seem the obvious but everything about this film has an already seen impact on any film goer, particularly if you've been following this genre since childhood as I've been.

This is despite a striking opening in Mexico even if amidst a grotesque festival commemorating the dead. This opening scene itself starts with an attempt at getting a prime villain by the name of Sciara who indeed does get killed in a helicopter fight with Bond. There's no real introduction or background to this scene and it's quite akin to writing an article without an intro, which as we all know will just not do.

Varying terrains

The film goes on then towards the bleak landscapes of Austria and north Africa though in the latter context we get a good idea of a rail journey across north Africa and I must say the train was distinctly superior to what's available here at home in India. Apart from that there's a certain absurdity of the whole train sequence as its punctuated by a villain barging in and giving Bond a good fight for his life whilst he's about to settle for dinner with his lady friend. In this context it might be mentioned that Bond cavorting with the heroine, whom he met only a while back in Austria too has a touch of abruptness, particularly when we note the meeting was by no means cordial. Though of course this is explained away by the bad guys kidnapping her and Bond of course successfully rescuing her. This about sums up the whole problem with "Spectre" in that there's no development of theme, it's all action from beginning to end as if somebody were anxious to get it over and done with.

Nor are the concepts very unique. There's a political touch as we are battling a terrorist organization and there's a move to have a globally unified intelligence sharing system together with a shake-up of British intelligence which doesn't however get very far, thanks to there being a wolf in sheep's clothing in the intelligence fraternity. Similarly there's nothing very unique about the "Spectre" organization being akin to an octopus. Indeed there's a vintage Bond film named "Octopusy."

Entertainment without logic

Thus "Spectre" is simply entertainment for the sake of entertainment and when all's said and done we might remember it for Monica Bellucci not showing her age at 51 and for Daniel Craig who's seems to be getting a bit old for this kind of role. As Daniel Craig himself admitted in a recent interview he's had about enough of performing the Bond role and it clearly shows in "Spectre" where we are led through a peremptory opening to an equally sudden end, albeit after two and a half hours. Therefore while the concept of retiring Bond didn't take off in "Spectre" and in some other Bond films, it's time might have about come as far as real life goes. After all if British intelligence can be screened why not try out for a change other comparable countries like Brazil, Egypt or Israel, for after all isn't variety the spice of life?

Definitely everything that has a beginning has an end and it's about time we applied that to the Bond series because the world has changed a lot since the first Bond film came out and making a film glorifying MI5 exploits doesn't make much sense today.