What’s so bad about Spectre? Nearly everything: The screenplay is uninteresting, derivative, and eviscerated by an amazingly stupid plot hole involving a watch, the action scenes have no sense of stakes or creativity, the talents of Lea Seydoux and Christoph Waltz are wasted on bland and empty characters, and the film commits the most heinous crime of all — it’s dreadfully boring.
Before this tirade goes on any longer, let me say there are a couple bright spots in this dim sequel. It’s gorgeously photographed by Hoyte Van Hoytema (although this film is miles away from the beauty Roger Deakins poured over Skyfall), and Dave Bautista is extremely cool as a classic henchmen.
Sure, it can also boast another excellent performance by Daniel Craig. However, far worse than anything mentioned in the introductory paragraph, is this allegedly fresh and re-imagined franchise’s sudden adherence to Hollywood’s most irritating modern trend. A handful of plot details, intended as mind-blowing revelations (all of which were easily deciphered in the trailer), have retro-converted the Craig series into a serialized narrative. I was concerned this must be the case as soon as Waltz’ character uttered the line, “It’s me James. The author of all your pain” (again, from the trailer), and not one of these developments, though they do tie the films together, seem to matter. Who cares if this was all the work of one guy? It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t really alter our perspective on the prior installments (because their stories were all self-contained). All this really tells us is James Bond has succumbed to the Marvelization of entertainment cinema: universe expansion, lazy, self-referential storytelling, and overarching, episodic narratives which never really, or maintain focus, and would rather concentrate on setting itself up for the next movie.
As I mulled these upsetting developments in this mostly strong series of films, it occurred to me there is something of a ‘chicken or the egg’ causal relationship at work here. The more I thought about it, though more adept at it, the earliest Bond films were utilizing this brand of myth-building story development. You’ve probably already read several reviews hailing or hating this movie for bringing some familiarity into this franchise via Spectre, and like it or not, this does feel more like classic Bond. The tone is more playful, and as I mentioned earlier, Dave Bautista and Lea Seydoux are reminders of the early days, to varying degrees of success. The strongest similarity to the Sean Connery run, however, has to be the way it sets itself up for a million sequels.
From inception, with Dr. No, what could easily have been a one-off jaunt into energetic sexploitative espionage escapism, instantly finds longevity and security by introducing the idea of an anti-MI6. Spectre is mentioned in one scene near the climax of the film, and who wouldn’t want to know more about it? Of course, the possibility of meeting more colorful characters like the film’s namesake isn’t the only reason the franchise took off. The movie was a hit because it was sexy and charming and thoroughly entertaining and imaginative, plus it was adapted from an already-beloved series of novels born in the 50s. Today, with a film named for that evil organization introduced in the first outing, this latest picture isn’t sexy, charming, entertaining, or imaginative… but it sure tries to expand its universe.
SPOILER ALERT: (yeah, right)… Waltz is Blofeld (duh) — a fact revealed by a shot of a fluffy white cat (fart sound). Also… he and Bond are step-brothers (duh/who cares?). It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean anything, and again, it doesn’t affect anything that came before… but it could be instrumental in shaping the future of the franchise. By the film’s climax, Bond has taken out Blofeld and his secret compound, but he hasn’t killed him, and he certainly hasn’t destroyed the whole organization. Is this the beginning of more lazy garbage? Will the franchise now be culling familiar elements and characters from the old films the way Marvel does from its comics, more for the sake of fan-service than quality filmmaking? If so, it’s only continuing what it started over 50 years ago. Fans of the novels had the opportunity to come see all their favorite characters brought to new life on film, just like comic book fans eagerly anticipate every new character’s introduction into Marvel’s cinematic universe.
Before Marvel’s aggressive expansion, 007 was the world’s largest mainstream franchise. It’s a story that never ends, with a character, though he can be constantly reborn, who never dies. Spectre, as long as its box office returns can help it survive being one of the most expensive movies ever made, has made the franchise look like Marvel’s biggest influence now more than ever. The tradition of episodic storytelling might date back farther to the first comic books, but even those short installments of a larger story were more proficient at consummation. Spectre feels like a stepping-stone. The lifeless film is so inconsequential, one has to wonder if it is only a placeholder for an enormous framework of future films.
Sound familiar? Well, it might have been 007’s idea, all along…
