So I've been making my way, slowly, through the Craig Bond films thanks to upgrading my system to 4K. Finally watched 2015's SPECTRE, the fourth entry in the Craig era. Previously, I'd only seen it once, during its initial theatrical release. I didn't like it then, but it was more of a "meh" than active dislike. So I was interested in how the film would feel seven years later.
Unfortunately, it was worse than I remembered it. The decision to make this a continuity-heavy entry (unlike SKYFALL) was, IMNSHO, a huge mistake. The amount of retconning and new information needed to even attempt to make this entry land with some impact was just too much; the film is bogged down with far too much LORE.
Much of the movie looks like it was filmed through a bottle of piss: an ugly yellow filter or recoloring.
Waltz seems like he'd be a great Bond villain but here he's flailing. The material utterly fails him and he comes across as a very generic action film baddie, despite the film's making him specific to Bond's childhood.
Bond's tryst with the Italian widow played like unintentional parody. They bang Because Movie (Because Bond Tradition) rather than out of any remotely believable reasons.
Even the score is off, many times, sounding weirdly spooky or video-game-esque rather than being written for a globe-spanning action film.
Whishaw as Q is a bright spot in the film; he was great casting and he has a really great chemistry with Craig. Incorporating Team M as part of the plot and finale feels like a huge mistake; it adds running time and ends up making the film feel like a generic action film.
And that's the thing: people complained about NTTD and its conclusion, but to me, SPECTRE is the one Craig film that is a Bond film in name only. Replace some character names, and this could easily be the first entry in a big budget action franchise. Even the villain's hideout in a meteor crater (a volcanic caldera IRL) feels lifeless and...boring.
I can give the film two positive notes, though. First: Swann and Bond actually have a bit of chemistry here, which didn't work AT ALL for me the first time I saw it. I still don't think their relationship earns the ending we get here (though NTTD redeems it) and it's very rushed...but it's not devoid of spark.
Second: the opening sequence isn't just a banger - it is! I wish the rest of the film had its verve, pacing, and Bondishness - but it once again directly plays into the persistent theme of the Craig Bond: he is a character drawn towards death. Craig's Bond doesn't just flirt with it, or inflict it: death is an inexorable black hole at the center of this version of Bond, and he's continually drawn towards it, circling closer and closer. It makes the end of NTTD all the more fitting and poignant, as this Bond stops fighting fate but also does a bit of spiritual judo with that fate, accepting his death while also making it count for something more than just duty to the crown.
