Spectre is the most expensive 007 movie to date, with a
budget rumoured to be well north of $250 million. At 148 minutes, it is also
the longest, which becomes evident in the bloated second half. But Mendes kicks
off in the same impressive mode as Skyfall, deepening Bond's back story while
self-consciously borrowing from the franchise's classic Sixties heritage. The
first act is great, full of dark portent and bravura film-making flourishes.
However, the final hour disappoints, with too many off-the-peg plot twists and
too many characters conforming to type. While its commercial prospects seem
bulletproof, Spectre ultimately feels like a lesser film than Skyfall, falling
back on cliche and convention.
Filmed in downtown Mexico City during the riotous Day of the
Dead festivities, the stupendous pre-credits sequence opens with an extended
tracking shot that would make Orson Welles jealous. After a spectacular
demolition and helicopter fight leaves a trail of carnage, James Bond (Daniel
Craig) is grounded by his jittery bosses. But he defies their orders as he races
to Rome, the Austrian Alps and the Moroccan desert in search of Franz
Oberhauser (Christopher Waltz), the shadowy mastermind behind an all-powerful
criminal cartel called Spectre, reviving an iconic piece of 007 folklore dating
back to the Sean Connery era.
Meanwhile, back in London, M (Ralph Fiennes), Moneypenny
(Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) are fighting for survival against an
ambitious government mandarin called C (Andrew Scott) with plans to shut down
the 00 agent program and replace it with his own sinister high-tech
surveillance network. If all this sounds a little familiar, it is pretty much
the same plot as the latest Mission: Impossible movie Rogue Nation, right down
to using Morocco and Austria as exotic locations. But at least Spectre boasts a
little more visual finesse, courtesy of Interstellar cinematographer Hoyte Van
Hoytema.
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