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Comments
The PTS is probably the strongest bit of the film. Bond comes off as a professional ready to finish the job. Recalls of CR where he leaves Solange to track Dimitrios. Similarly effective. One has the feeling however, that the ring should really have come into it later, with Mrs. Sciarra. Here it just feels like a reward of Bond doing his job poorly, and I question how Bond knows its importance.
After the PTS the film is still quite strong, if on a slightly weird note. I simply don't get why Bond and M have issues to start the film after their relationship that started in the last. And why couldn't Fiennes have given Bond the Sciarra mission? As it is, I question the logistics of Dench recording a video message every time she stumbled upon something, afraid she would die.
And then unfortunately, the film loses me earlier than Moonraker, despite being enjoyable for around 40 minutes because of the credibility the film demands. Mrs. Sciarra's bounty makes little sense to me. How much would she realistically know as simply the wife of a member? (The protocols for divorce must be quite drastic (and indeed suspicion inducing)). And from that logic, how does she know about the spontaneous meeting and location of Spectre, if her only source in the organisation is dead?
Blofeld himself and his actions raise many questions as well. Why appoint Hinx to kill White if poison is already doing the job? How does he know Bond is there? Is this not in the "delay" period of smart blood? And what does he truly plan with Nine Eyes? The villain's plot is quite underwhelming once one considers that Five Eyes exists, with the same purpose and powers as Blofeld's plan. The film perhaps should come from the angle that Blofeld's control is negative, not necessarily the program itself, but both are kind of just blended together.
Austria is quite annoying as well. Why hasn't Hinx killed Swann? Does the "no loose end" policy end with daughters? I'd imagine she'd be easy to find too (relatively unique name), and just as easy to slip thallium or any kind of poison to.
And finally in terms of locations, Morocco and London are this film's version of Iceland and the DMZ. I only have minor issues with the TWINE soap opera complain but this turns the drama up to 11. Blofeld kills first because he father showed an attachment to Bond. What a ridiculous statement. And then the perfect exit by Bond after needles affecting balance, sight and hearing, as well as memory and recognition. Somehow a bullet in the shoulder was more impeding than having his brain tampered with. And ultimately the silliest, most ham-fisted scene where Madeleine leaves in the streets as if she's safe. I believe why Craig thought she was a Spectre agent.
And ultimately using Madeleine for that purpose makes complete sense with Blofeld's MO. "Psychologically damaging" and utterly stupid. Sometimes you wonder if Blofeld plans for failure so he can finally use his gimmicks, like posters on the wall or introduce his bro to his man-crater. A maybe cooler way of testing Bond would be not having Madeleine in the building at all, have Bond do something clever to find out he's lying and have the final chase ensue. In my opinion, much better than a screaming-while-gagged Madeleine.
The final criticism of the film: the MI6 crew grates in this film. I understand them having more screentime, and honestly I was fine with their participation until they showed up in the climax. I think this fatigue could easily be alleviated if they don't show up as much earlier: for example Bond could deduce the Pale King = Mr. White and figure out his address in Altausee through his own research. And potentially Bond could ditch the ring subplot (I find it hard to believe the DNA of all previous villains and Oberhauser would be found on it). This would help serve how alone and rogue Bond is, and them he gets loads of help for the climax.
I've run out of gas for the bridge finale, but I think it's quite obvious I wasn't impressed with that, nor Bond leaving the service. Yeah quite bad all in all. Probably won't watch this again.
Ouch. As I suspected, Craigs last 2 entries aren't standing the test of time quite as well.
Excellent write up. There really is so much wrong with this film. A terrible script first and foremost.
The PTS and Train fight are it's few highlights.
An epic spy comedy that takes us to a gorgeous French château, to beautiful Venice, to partying Rio, to the Amazon, before it finally shoots us into orbit. The cinematography, the sets, the music, the stunts and several fun characters, it just all works. Save perhaps for one thing, the writing introduces quite a lot of conveniences and most of it is played for laughs, so there's not much sense of danger as a consequence. Watch it as a comedy / autoparody and you'll have a great time though.
Rating before rewatch: 8/10
Rating after rewatch: 8/10
I think SP is mostly a decent-ish Bond film until Bond arrives at Blofeld's base - then it's just contrived nonsense.
Uhm, because you read *a* review?
Spectre, a film that almost went to the bottom of my list has slowly, over a decade, risen to mid-tier, so what does that mean?
Shameless. Just shameless. But you provided some good belly laughs.
Thanks to all those who reached out to suggest I read @Mendes4Lyfe 's flurry of posts and word salads, 😂
Problem is, from Rome to Morocco, the film is 70s Bond wearing 80s Bond clothing. It feels like a story you should be able to take seriously (and the tone is as such), but so many questions arise. And ultimately the tone of the film isn't like Moonraker where you can laugh the questions off.