Spectre

Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz,  Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennes

Rated: 6.5/10

Even as the sanskari Bond hashtag has flooded Indian twitterati, thanks to an overzealous Censor Board going all clippy and sloppy for no reason whatsoever, the name Bond, James Bond still reigns supreme.

For, Bond is still the kissing-killing sexy war machine that he used to be all those 24 editions back. The enigma around Bond has neither been shaken nor stirred for all the years that he has gulped down criminals, terrorists, drug cartel rogues or plain killers with his dirty martinis and women in tow.

The swagger is undiminished and the commitment to cross continental crime chasing as strong as his love for the now deceased M. But it is her cryptic message that got delivered to her famous protégé on the eve of her murder that gives this caper its intense action sequences and 007 his newest mission. Of course, it is another matter that as he disappears into all kind of cities in Europe without the sanction of his new M boss and an intrusive CEO of global security, the chase happens on a crescendo of action.

The opening sequence in which an aerial fight between Bond and a terrorist in a chopper atop a jam-packed town square in Mexico City holds your breath and sets the tone for this new Bond film which has more action than most movies till now. Of course, most of the dramatise personae are the same (though in different garbs) — Q is younger and more to the tune of this age; Money Penny as committed; And, M new, male and not so wedded to Bond’s missionary zeal.

Bond’s classic fans would say, there is way too much drama that does not behove a Bond film. But for the younger generation, action is the lifeline and this Bond film has much more than others. There is a lot of emotion too in Mr Bond who is chasing a criminal who was his adopted brother turned fiend. There is nostalgia, regret and even overwhelming love in Bond which kind of dents into his usual swagger, making him more human than one would like.

But then there’s groovy action to take care of these subtle changes that would look too big and maybe even a tad jarring to a veteran fan. But Spectre still holds forth, this time on a $300 million budget and with some strange kind of finality in the proceedings.

Daniel Craig, in his tuxedoes, pouts and lean and mean jumps from tall buildings looks somewhat stressed — probably because he is fighting age as Bond. Can someone tell him that Mr Bond, James Bond is an ageless phenomenon with whom you would always like to share the martinis, well with faith that is neither shaken nor stirred. 

Source: The Sunday Pioneer, 22 November, 2015