Movie Reviews #20…
Movie Reviews #20…
[Apology from Steve: Either I missed reviewing some recent movies I’ve seen, or we were too busy this fall for a lot of movies. No matter. Here’s a long one for the Thanksgiving holidays in the U.S. If you’re traveling during these days, have patience and be super careful. Have a wonderful time with family and friends. And, whether you’re religious or not, there’s always something to be thankful for in your own life and room for a thought or two about those who are in dire straits.]
SPECTRE. Director, Sam Mendes. The movie-goer will be shaken, not stirred. Bond, James Bond, is back. First, the shaken: This is the quintessential Bond movie, filled with gimmicks (“smart blood”—c’mon!), explosions, car and helicopter chases (lots of helicopters), and pretty much an absurd plot that harkens back to Herr Blofeld and SPECTRE, that crime syndicate that wants to dominate the world. Of course, SPECTRE is modernized. Bond’s loose-cannon status comes to the fore, the new M (Ralph Fiennes) is a wee bit ambivalent about 007, and C wants to end the license-to-kill program. It’s all good fun.
Second, the not stirred: Skyfall had some depth, probably the most of any of the Bond films. It also had Adele performing the theme song. I figured SPECTRE would disappoint in comparison. It sets the bar high for any Bond film that follows it. Trolling the old films for ideas didn’t help my perception. By the time Roger Moore became Bond, I was already tired of Blofeld and his Persian cat. And frankly Daniel Craig was looking a bit old in SPECTRE like Roger Moore always looked in his Bond films. Craig can still play the tough guy, but you wonder if he manages it by ODing on Boost, that nutritional drink for the elderly.
Lea Seydoux does a good job as Bond’s main squeeze in this one. She just might be the most talented actor in this film. I’m predicting a bright future for her. Of course, if psychs were like this, all men would be in therapy! Her profession is a wee bit farfetched, but she bounces from denying grief at daddy’s death into Bond’s arms in a convincing fashion, playing a kick-ass female rather than the usual Bond eye-candy. Andrew Scott is completely miscast as C. No way in hell someone this young gets this high in the Brit’s security establishment. He looks like a lawyer just out of law school and without any experience. Not convincing at all.
It was decades ago when I read ALL of Ian Fleming’s Bond stories. I frankly can’t remember Blofeld and SPECTRE, but some days I have trouble remembering what I ate the day before, so that doesn’t count for much. As is often the case, the books were often better than the corresponding movies (although Sean Connery matched my mental image of Bond in Dr. No), but the movie makers soon ran out of books and turned to original screen plays. Except for Skyfall, they’ve always been lacking and quite formulaic. The movie SPECTRE is no exception. Still fun, though. (PG-13.)
In elibris libertas….
