SPECTRE (2015) Written by John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade Directed by Sam Mendes. Starring Daniel Craig, Ralph Finnes, Christopher Waltz 148 mins, yes it’s even longer than the last one.
A cryptic message from James Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover the existence of a sinister organisation named SPECTRE. With a new threat dawning, Bond learns the terrible truth about the author of all his pain in his most recent missions.
If you liked 2012’s SKYFALL you’ll probably like 2015’s SPECTRE because its got virtually the same creative team. Danny Craig is back, Judi Dench is not and I miss her very much. It’s hard to believe Craig has been playing Bond for 10 years now and keep in mind this is the last Bond film released, NO TIME TO DIE, the latest episode, is slated to be released in 2021 which means Craig has been playing Bond for 16 years! Holy hannah!
Let’s compare this with the other Bonds, shall we? Their ages are in (when they started/when they ended) the number of films they did is in BOLD.
Sean Connery (32/41) 1962-1971 - 9 years - 8 films
George Lazenby (30) 1969 - 1 year - 1 film
Roger Moore (46/58) 1973-1985 - 12 years - 7 films
Tim Dalton (41/43) 1987-1989 - 2 years - 2 films
Pierce Brosnan (42/49) 1995-2002 - 7 years - 4 films
Daniel Craig (37/53) 2005-2021 - 16 years - 5 films
Okay so Roger Moore was Bond for a whole generation but Craig has crushed Moore’s record in terms of years. Connery holds the record for making the most films and it’s good to note that I listed him from 1962-1971 but he skipped 1969’s entry and he came back for 1971’s DIAMOND’S ARE FOREVER and then NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN in 1983 which was an unofficial entry in the Bond series. Lazenby is the youngest Bond at 30 but Connery was only two years older in his first outing. Moore was the oldest to take on the role and the oldest to stay with the role, but with the amount of time it takes for the Craig films to come out if he decides to do another one he could tie that record.
Craig, for all his years with the series has only made five films. His films have the largest gap between releases due to writer strikes, lawsuits and Covid.
All right so back to SPECTRE; Christopher Waltz is the villain this time, he’s a great actor, he’s a weak choice for grande Bond villain Ernst Blofeld, and the PR department (and Waltz for that matter) tried really hard to deny he was playing Blofeld in this movie marking the first time the arch villain has been seen in a Bond film since 1983’s FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
Blofeld, in case you didn’t know, is the basis for Austin Powers Dr Evil, but that’s what made him great. If they had come full circle and had Waltz play him with a naru jacket, bald head, scar over his eye and a cat audiences would have fallen out of their chairs because they would have thought Austin Powers.
The movie is overlong, gives us yet more of Bond’s backstory and makes a connection between Bond and Blofeld that seems contrived. Critics didn’t like this one and I’m with them.
BOND RATING: C+ It’s the worst of the CRAIG films, but looking at the track record we might see the bottom drop out with the next one.
BOND will return, eventually, in NO TIME TO DIE, but I’m not sure I will. It’s been interesting over these many weeks to rewatch Bond and to realize I’m right back where I started. Bond is best trapped in the style and the gadgets of the 1960s when man was racing to get into space and villains were bald and carried hairless cats.
OVERALL BOND RATING: ***