In Review: ‘Spectre’

Home Culture In Review: ‘Spectre’

“You only live twice,” said Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond. That’s certainly the case with the reappearance of an old villain — Spectre — in the latest Bond film of the same name.

This villain dominated many of the old James Bond films — those made prior to the reboot series featuring Daniel Craig, which started in 2006 with “Casino Royale.” But the 2015 film “Spectre” does more than revive old villains and wrap up the Daniel Craig series. In addition to wild action sequences, explosions, and Bond’s frenzied manhunt to find the author of his misery, “Spectre” headlines classic spy tropes as a tribute to old espionage films, a tongue-in-cheek way of lightening a film already heavy with Bond’s revenge and exhaustion. The uniformed henchmen, classic blond Bond girl, family drama, and clever “Bond-liners” are too cunningly integrated into the plot and character of the film to be annoying. In fact, they’re more enjoyable than worthy of eye-rolling. “Spectre” may also be the first Bond film to give Bond a chance to escape from the agonized yet hardened life he leads.

Observant film critics might have noticed throughout the Daniel Craig Bond films (2006’s “Casino Royale,” 2008’s “Quantum of Solace,” and 2012’s “Skyfall”) that each film ends with unanswered questions and the uncomfortable feeling that more is going on than the director chose to explicitly show us. “Casino Royale” ends with the death of a woman Bond loved who was blackmailed by a villain behind the scenes. In “Quantum of Solace,” although half-crazed with murderous determination to find the villain responsible, Bond comes a bit closer to finding the truth. It isn’t until the events in “Skyfall” — which features direct attacks on the British intelligence agency for which he works, MI6 — that Bond realizes someone is orchestrating these crises to achieve his demise.

Without giving away the ending, it’s sufficient to say “Spectre” completes the subtle story arc weaving through the Daniel Craig Bond films, tying up the loose ends with a satisfying conclusion to Craig’s rendition of Bond. Craig delivers a near-perfect performance, continuing his brooding, single-minded interpretation of Agent 007 while maintaining dry humor and casually dropping the classic Bond-liners.

For example, when Dr. Madeleine Swann (fantastically portrayed by Lea Seydoux) questions his cold resolve and grisly lifestyle and asks Bond, “Why, given every other possible option, does a man choose the life of a paid assassin?” Bond simply replies, “Well, it was that or the priesthood.”

Bond seduces two women before meeting Swann, but he and Swann cultivate real chemistry, which drives much of the second half of the film. Swann represents a chance at a different kind of life for Bond: although she is vital to his mission and helps him succeed in “beating the bad guys,” she also offers him a way out from the manic life of an assassin, which, as we see throughout “Spectre,” is already beginning to weigh heavily on him.

Their teamwork, antagonistic repartee, and emotional attraction pull Bond out of his destructive lifestyle and culminates in a challenge from Swann: “Is this really what you want? Living in the shadows? Hunting, being hunted? Always alone?” And Bond answers, “I don’t stop to think about it.”

But that’s exactly what Bond must do if he’s ever to find peace from the spectre that it is past, present, and future if he continues the lifestyle of an assassin. Swann is more than just a blond “Bond girl.” She’s part of the redemptive conclusion to the Craig series.

From an aesthetic standpoint, “Spectre” doesn’t disappoint. Sam Mendes, director of “Skyfall,” returns to direct “Spectre.” He lavishes viewers’ senses with an exotic, intense, and deadly Day of the Dead opening sequence in Mexico City and a reckless car chase through Rome, which features a gorgeous Aston Martin DB10 made from scratch specially for the film. Thomas Newman returns to write a soaring score, but it’s Sam Smith’s haunting rendition of “Writing’s on the Wall” in an eerie opening titles animation that really sets the tone for the film, blending themes of pain, desperation, loss, and redemption.

Mendes treats viewers to clever old spy cliches, cinematic finesse, and a new kind of Bond — a tired, but redeemed Bond — before ending the film with a quirky throwback: Bond drives away in an Aston Martin DB5, the famous “Bond car” that made its first appearance in the 1964 Bond film “Goldfinger.”

Although “Spectre” deviates from the traditional conception of cinema’s favorite secret agent, it pays homage to the old films and spy stereotypes that made James Bond so popular. The good news is, Bond is still as rogue and charming as ever. As one of the villains from a 1983 Bond film remarked: “You seem to have this nasty habit of surviving.” To which Roger Moore’s Bond says, “You know what they say about the fittest.