Spectre (12A)

Sam Mendes

DANIEL Craig has suggested that his fourth outing as James Bond may be his last. If it is, the actor will be going out on a high. Skyfall, the most successful Bond film ever, may have been a hard act to follow, but the spectacular Spectre could surpass it.

Ever since Craig became 007, the thrust of the films has been about rebooting both the character and the franchise – starting Bond’s development from scratch, keeping some of the accoutrement but establishing a new, more contemporary feel. That having been achieved, it seems that director Sam Mendes and his scriptwriters are now luxuriating in a little nostalgic to and fro. The new film has so many echoes of earlier Bonds, especially Connery’s, that it feels like a “best of” compilation; yet it also maintains the Craig-era agent on his own trajectory. It’s a very canny package.

It starts with a stunningly confident pre-credits sequence, which sets the tone of the film and a balance between elegant execution, excitement and arguably the most beautiful cinematography of the franchise. It’s the Day of the Dead in Mexico City, the streets bustling with carnival. Dressed in a skeleton suit (both sinister and amusing), Bond accompanies a woman into a hotel, his seemingly amorous intentions ending when he leaves her, and the costume, and steps onto the roof. Assassination, exploding buildings and a jaw-dropping fight in a helicopter, as it careers out of control over the city, get the film off to a jaunty start, which even manages to survive Sam Smith’s screeching, execrable theme tune.

As is often the case, Bond is playing rogue agent, while actually keeping queen and country much in mind. His mission is the shadowy organisation that has been lurking in the shadows for the past three films, led by the mysterious Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). With covert help from Miss Moneypenny (Naomi Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw), Bond pursues Spectre from Mexico to Rome to the Austrian Alps and the North African desert. En route he pays a visit to his old enemy, Mr White (Jesper Christensen, almost literally oozing pathos in a sombre scene), before enlisting White’s reluctant daughter Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) in his search.

Meanwhile, back in London, M (Ralph Fiennes) struggles to keep his job as MI6 is merged with Britain’s other security services, under the smarmy control of C (Andrew Scott, aka Moriarty from Sherlock). The two plots are destined to dovetail.

This has everything you’d want in a Bond movie. My pick of the action sequences would be the brutal fist fight with Spectre heavy Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista), which brings to mind Connery’s iconic tussle with Robert Shaw in From Russia With Love. The customary comic banter between Bond and Q is terrific, especially when it involves cars. Waltz, who can be diabolical in his sleep, is a perfectly cast villain (if slightly under-used), and Seydoux a sublime Bond girl – funny and feisty, with a touch of ambiguity, a match for Bond as she beats him to the punch over drinks, ordering “a vodka martini – dirty”.

In his first outing, Casino Royale, Craig didn’t seem that comfortable in Bond’s trademark tuxedo. Now the suits fit him as he fits the role, like a glove. His Bond has lightened up, the swagger accompanied by a jovial sarcasm, and more compassion than we’ve seen before; though he’s as lethal as ever.

An excellent script has lots of twists and surprises, including the eagerly anticipated revelation of Oberhauser’s true identity, with an ending that may be a sign of Craig’s intentions.

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