Spectre (film)

Went to watch Spectre tonight...I can't say that I was impressed. I like Daniel Craig, I used to drink in his dad's pub in Frodsham back in the day; I met a couple of actors in there and got their autographs too! So I'm not a huge fan of his, but I like him, and if this was to be his last outing as Bond, then I wanted to come out of the film thinking he had gone out on a high note. I left feeling somewhat disappointed that it was just another formulaic Bond film.

I think Sam Mendes did a great job of directing, and visually I enjoyed the film, but I think the script left something to be desired, and I honestly believe half an hour could have easily been cut from the film. It just rumbled on for too long and I could feel myself checking my watch to see how much more I had to endure.

I was gripped at the start of the movie; Bond is in Mexico during the Day of the Dead celebrations. The costumes are fantastic, and it doesn't take a genius to work out that Bond is the one going back to the hotel in the skeleton suit! He then changes back into the suited Bond we all know and love, and in full sniper mode, alarmingly manages to destroy several buildings! It is fast paced, gutsy, and slightly tongue in cheek as he is saved by a sofa and then jumps onto a helicopter for a fantastically shot fight scene which takes place over a huge crowd of people. This was possibly the best part of the film.

We soon learn that Bond has taken on this mission without the knowledge of his supervisors. There is a new head of the British Intelligence Service, C, and he wants to shut down the 00 program, and insists that the only way forward is to move towards a 24/7 around the world surveillance program. There is no real explanation as to why we should think this is a bad idea, but already the audience knows that they shouldn't trust C.

As the plot thickens, Bond uncovers a plan which pulls all the open ends of Craig's past three films together. Bond needs to find the headquarters of a terrorist organisation called Spectre. Once there we meet Oberhauser, the head of the organisation. It seems he has a connection to Bond, but this is not really explained until the very end, so I couldn't understand what his motivation was for trying to destroy Bond, and after a short time I found I didn't really care either. Unfortunately, the film centres on this rivalry, so perhaps that is why I just wanted it to end so I could find out why they hated each other so much.

As usual there is the plethora of beautiful women who fall at Bond's feet, and the usual set up of "we've just successfully killed a baddie so lets go have sex" approach, but at least this somewhat comical element lightened the boredom. So too did the high-speed car chase scene, and the chase through the mountains in the aircraft, again the visuals were brilliantly filmed. The script was just too tired, and the dialogue dull, nostalgic and a little forced and confused. Speaking of confused, the opening titles, what did an octopus and weaving tentacles have to do with the movie? Answers on a postcard please!