Spectre - Even Numbers

“Spectre” is the fourth (and probably the last) of the Daniel Craig era of Bond.  And he’s done an amazing job in the role.  The tone of the series changed drastically—from somewhat cartoonish, punny sci-fi spy stories to grittier, more grounded (though still somewhat punny) spy stories.  The movies haven’t been perfect, but they have been a ton of fun to watch.  And Mr. Craig, though not particularly handsome, is still easy on the eyes.  I think it’s the charisma and confidence that he exudes that makes him such an amazing Bond.

There have been inconsistencies, though, in how good the Craig-Bond movies have been.  Opposite of the pattern of the pre-J.J. Abrams era of Star Trek movies (where the odd numbered flicks have been terrible), it is the even numbered entries that have left some to be desired.

“Casino Royale” was such a departure from the previous Bond that it was darkly refreshing.  Bond wasn’t invulnerable.  He didn’t have his gadgets (though he did have an amazing car).  There was probably one of the best foot chases ever in the sequence just after the opening (pretty well popularizing parkour).  And there was a nice twist that was not even close to being obvious.

I liked “Quantum of Solace” alright, but not nearly as much as “Casino Royale”.  The main villain wasn’t particularly memorable.  The girl wasn’t either.  But it was pretty cool to have the revelation of Quantum: what I thought of at the time as the precursor to S.P.E.C.T.R.E.—that bad guy organization from all the way back in the Connery-Bond days.

“Skyfall” was awesome.  Judi Dench had much more of a role than she’d ever had in a Bond film before.  And she was such a good M!  Javier Bardem’s Silva was properly scary—not overtly, but definitely undeniably.  The new Moneypenny was right on the money (sorry!).  And, as in “Casino Royale”, Bond wasn’t invincible.  It was nice to get a peek into his past, to see the parallel but diverging paths that he and Silva were on.

And now there’s “Spectre”.  This film was beautifully filmed.  The costuming in the opening sequence was gorgeous!  There were great action sequences—fights, car chases, and some non-traditional air combat (all I have to say is, that helicopter pilot was amazing).  There were fun references to earlier (and I mean 1960’s earlier) Bond adventures, and this one tied all of the Craig-Bond movies together, which I liked.  Also, Dave Bautista made great baddie-muscle.

But Bond wasn’t nearly as invulnerable as he had been in the previous three movies.  There was a fight scene that was truly brutal, but he didn’t have a mark on him afterward.  Call me weird, but I want to see at least a little blood on my hero.  (I kind of think that’s why I’m more of a Batman fan than Superman.)  So that was a bit of a disappointment.

Another thing that was a little bit of a letdown was that the “twist” wasn’t very twisty.  I saw it about a mile off.  I really want to be surprised by that sort of thing.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie.  I will buy it when it is available for purchase.  I just wish it was an odd numbered movie so that it could be a proper send-off for one of the best Bond’s ever: Daniel Craig.