SPECTRE - My thoughts on Bond 24
Let's get this out of the way, 'Spectre' is a very good movie, and a great Bond movie. Its nemesis, however, is that 'Skyfall' is an amazing movie and possibly the best Bond film ever made. What could act as a source of hardship for many is how very different 'Spectre' is than its predecessor.
If you're familiar with the 007 filmography, this movie is most akin to 'From Russia With Love' in that there is heavy focus on Bond and a companion, and it's done very well. No more details will be divulged.
There are a few stories to follow in the movie that all mesh together well. What the film could have used was slightly tighter editing to give the pace a little dash of throttle. Not a lot. Just a few sparse seconds trimmed here and there to give the ebb and flow extra momentum.
If this is Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond, I'll be sad to see him go. He delivers another excellent turn as the modern Bond that resurrected the franchise into the wonder it is today. Two time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz wasn't given the type of meaty roles he has received from Tarrantino, but he does deliver a real world villain (when compared to 007's history of adversaries) that has the right amount of eccentricity to keep him interesting. Léa Seydoux turned out to be one of the best female leads in a Bond film. She breaks the trope of inclusion for the sake of 007's carnal conquest. All of the other newcomers and returning players added to the sum of what made this film enjoyable.
Director Sam Mendes set out to make a different film from his highly acclaimed 'Skyfall', and he succeeded. I for one am happy he didn't go the easy route of giving us a retread of what worked the first time. Surprisingly, his action sequences are better than what he gave us in 'Skyfall'.
The cinematography does fall short of 'Skyfall', but is still pretty good. Shaky-cam only called attention to itself at the beginning, but was kept to a minimum for the remainder of the movie. The sound was great on all fronts, except for male voices, which were distinctly muffled compared to the female dialogue. The issue may have been caused by either the IMAX theatre, or by someone along the film's production chain who dropped the ball in a large way. However, the sound crew receives top marks for the incredible LFE during the right moments, which I hope make it into the Blu Ray, unfiltered.
I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to fans of the franchise. Just be aware that you will be seeing something very different from 'Skyfall', and you'll increase your enjoyment tenfold. If time allows, I'll definitely see Spectre again in theatres, and it already has a spot allocated on my Blu Ray shelf.
P.S. For those who know the Bond franchise well, there are tons of references and Easter eggs scattered throughout for you to feast on. And the Sam Smith song sounds much better with the film than it does alone. Much better!