Review of Spectre (2015) by Mathodus — 06 Nov 2015

There is always a blotch in a movie franchise, whether it be Star Wars Episode I or Batman & Robin, there are always at least one film that falls short. These movies fail to capture what made their franchises great by abandoning creative storytelling and character development for fun whimsical tropes which are solely put in to gather audiences of a wide variety to buy tickets.

These blotches and tropes have already existed in the Bond franchise, dating back to the Sean Connery era, but before you know it, lightning will strike again and again. Following the massive critical and financial success of Skyfall, the twenty-forth Bond film had kept people wondering "what's next for our hero?", "what new situations can you put him in that makes the story compelling and the character enthralling?".

Well, filmmakers of course decided to make a nostalgia piece, ditching the dark character study of the previous films in the Daniel Craig Era for a cliched adventure film, full of deus ex machinas, quips, one-dimensional characters and completely amateur storytelling.

There are more Hollywood cliches in this film than actual story. The only audience that would enjoy this movie is the people who have never seen any Bond films before, so that they have no frame-of-reference for a great Bond film, small children who cannot yet comprehend what makes a film good or bad, and 60+ year old retirees who feel a sense of nostalgia that connects this film with the campiness of the early days of the franchise, which by all means the filmmakers achieved.

The main issue with this film is that the movie does not take itself seriously. Some may argue that Craig's Bond is too dark and brooding, but the people who think that do not understand that the change in character which made him seem more cold and human, realistically placed him within a setting that was both practical and compelling.

Going back and representing the classic Bond tropes is an entertaining thought, but that is completely impractical and unoriginal. The best films which stand out above the rest are those that offer a unique story, a story that no one has yet thought of, a story that takes your mind within the screen, never once letting you get out of your seat, but to tell the truth, I never felt that.

I wanted the film to end abruptly as soon as possible, and when the screen went dark, I rushed myself out of the theater, questioning why the filmmakers or Sony or whoever is responsible for this movie decided to change the mood and atmosphere of both the story and its characters.

My best guess is that they simply decided to film an action/adventure, blockbuster, popcorn movie that you watch on a first date, and granted, they achieved that, but I enjoyed the franchise because of the changes made over the years which evolved from Sean Connery flying away in a jetpack to Daniel Craig holding a dying M in his arms.

However, this film chose to make Bond a quipping, rebellious douche who conveniently gets out of ridiculous situations. Highs and lows have always existed, but when you get to the point of liking Austin Powers more than this movie, it has become an abyss.

Let us hope that the next one is decent.