The James Bond franchise might be predictable but its characters are so engaging and charming movie-goers will gladly hand over hard earned dollars for 007. The new Bondfilm “Spectre” is no exception. Box Office Mojo reports earnings over $70 million dollars which puts the fourth Daniel Craig Bond film within expectations for opening weekend earnings. This is good news for Sony who is currently in negotiations to maintain the filming rights for this franchise. Sam Mendes returned to direct this film and the buzz around the internet was positive because of how incredible his previous 007 film “Skyfall” was. And that’s where the good news stops…
This movie felt like it was originally five or six hours long and then editing had to cut it down to an appropriate runtime. The 3rd act of the film felt like it should’ve been the 2nd act and by the time it reached that part of the story the audience was less than engaged. So much so, the lady sitting next to me fell asleep and was snoring, not quietly, just more than halfway into the movie. If you follow me on Twitter you probably noticed I did the unthinkable, live tweet during a movie. This movie was that poorly made.
This film did have some highlights and one was Christoph Waltz, an incredible actor, whose performance was what movie watchers have come to expect and enjoy. However, we are introduced to his character while he sits in the shadows. This doesn’t work because the audience already knows who he is, so the mystery is lost. Get out of the shadows Christoph, we all know it’s you.
Daniel Craig reprises his role as James Bond and it felt like he just phoned in his performance. To summarize, “Here I am, I’m Bond, doing Bond things, because that’s what Bonds do. Where’s a hot chick and my martini?” He didn’t seem to have the visible drive that he had previously and it was noticeable. One could argue this Bond could’ve let the world end as long as he had a Martini and a super model to watch it with.
This movie was a disappointment for me personally. I grew up loving the 007 movies and the persona of James Bond. I would’ve preferred Timothy Dalton come back as Bond in this film because at least my expectations would’ve been less going in. I probably would’ve been more tolerant of this films short comings. To summarize my overall feelings regarding this film in comparison to its counterparts, I submit one of my live tweets…
“Spectre” is in theaters now! In closing, this film gets no bullets for 007’s Walther PPK and his martini is stirred, not shaken. If Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes decide not to return to the franchise that’s fine. If they decide to stay, that’s ok too. As long as they make another great film like “Skyfall” and not “Spectre” I’m all in. Talented people making good movies is how everyone wins and the box office scores.
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This movie felt like there was more care and consideration in the beautiful set pieces (in this case amazing locales, cars and scenery-including the beautiful women that were little more, character-wise than that) than there was in the acting and writing. It waould have been wonderful to watch if any of the talent had been more fascinating than what they were standing around. Waltz is glorious as always, but I feel even he was hamstrung by a less than interesting story. There certainly was intrigue and spy stuff in the film and even a few gadgets in the beautiful Aston. But no soul. No fire. No vigor. I would say, "It was nice to at least see Bond again, a-la the most recent Indiana Jones film. In that the character was there". But like Crystal Skull, it lacked the penache, the indescribable something that one has come to expect from the franchise.
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