Spectre

The world would never be what it is, without Sean Connery.

How can i know that ? Come on, he was the first James Bond, and of course will always be the best James Bond ever. Sean Connery gave the world exactly what we wanted, as the legendary british secret agent. Ever since Ian Flemming gave us his legendary character, i have a feeling almost everyone in this world have seen at least one James Bond film. Ever since the 60´s, we had a lot of great times, seeing Bond back on a big screen, ready to save the world once again. I suppose that we need a hero, especially in hard times, when ISIS and other terrorist organisations kill innocent people. So, to see James Bond in today´s society is a good thing, because some things should remain nostalgic. I have followed James Bond ever since i was a child in the 70´s. My earliest memory is that my grandfather Ingvar introduced me to one of the first Bond films with Sean Connery. I think the first one i did see was From Russia With Love, if i remember correctly. I remember an old friend of mine, Nicklas, collected every single Bond film on VHS, so i used to borrow them and watch them, over and over again. One of my personal favourite Bond films, from the early days, is still Live And Let Die. I really enjoyed the combination of voodoo and Haiti influences, into a Bond film, and this was the first time we were introduced to Roger Moore. I guess you could say that each actor, who played James Bond had something to offer, in different ways. Am i the only one who enjoyed the rough Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights ? Perhaps, but i think i enjoyed Goldeneye even more, when Pierce Brosnan gave the world a James Bond we all been waiting for. I rememeber how skeptical i was when Brosnan left the Bond franchise, after Die Another Day, and Daniel Craig took over. But it turned out to be a very good move. Casino Royale turned out to be the best Bond film in many years, Quantum Of Solace was alright, but when director Sam Mendes was chosen to direct Skyfall, all the pieces falled perfectly together. Skyfall is still one of the best Bond films ever made, and i can´t tell you how many times i have watched it. So, when the news came out, that director Sam Mendes would work again with Daniel Craig, on the new Bond film Spectre, i was really happy. Is this as good as Skyfall turned out to be, or is this second time around not as good as we were hoping for ?

James Bond ( Daniel Craig ) is located in Mexico City, where he have located Marcus Sciarra ( Alessandro Cremona ), who previous M ( Judi Dench ) ordered Bond to find. After a violent battle, Sciarra is killed, being kicked out of an helicopter, but before he flies out, Bond manage to get a ring from his finger. This ring have an Octopus symbol, that he have not seen before. Since James Bond did this mission without  M´s ( Ralph Fiennes ) permission, he have no other choice than to suspend him indefinitely. M introduce Bond to C, also known as Max Denbigh ( AndrewScott ). C campaigns for Britain to join " Nine Eyes ", a global survelliance and intelligence co-operation initiative between nine member states. C plans to shut down the '00'section, because he feels that it is outdated. James Bond still continue to look into his leads, with the help of Q ( Ben Whishaw ), since he is not allowed to work any further on this mission. Bond travels to Rome to attend the funeral of Sciarra. Later that night, Bond visits Sciarra´s widow Lucia ( Monica Belluci ). She informs him that her husband was a member of the secret criminal organization Spectre. Bond finds out where there is a secret meeting, where members meet to discuss their next operation. At the meeting, Bond identifies Spectre´s leader, Franz Oberhauser ( Christopher Walz ), also known as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Bond is revealed and is chased by Mr. Hinx ( Dave Bautista ), an assassin of Spectre. He manage to escape, and continue to find out more information behind Spectre. Bond travels to Austria to meet Dr. Madeleine Swann ( Léa Seydoux ), daughter of Mr. White ( Jesper Christensen ). Mr White told Bond earlier, that his daughter is the only one he can get the information from, before he killed himself. Blofeld knows that Madeleine hold important information, and go after her. Bond is not going to let them finish their operation, he have to find a way to stop Spectre´s plans.

Since i feel that Skyfall is one of the best Bond movies ever made, i was really excited to see if director Sam Mendes would deliver on this level again, working together with Daniel Craig once more. Unfortunately i can´t say i feel the same passion this time around. And the main problem is the Bond villain known as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In some of the early Bond films, this was a great villain, played by legendary actors like Donald Pleasence. In Spectre actor Christopher Walz take on this legendary villain. The actor is not the problem, because if you have seen Christopher Walz before, you know he is a really good actor. The biggest problem is that he is very boring here, as a character. A Bond villain is supposed to be a hard time for Bond, and not have conversations only. This is such a shame, because with such a legendary character as Blofeld, you could have had something special to enjoy. Don´t worry though, i will not say that Spectre is a bad movie. We do have Daniel Craig back as Bond, and that can not go wrong, because he proved himself to be the best actor to portrait the british agent since Sean Connery. Sam Mendes also proves once again, why he is perfect as the director of an James Bond film, he knows the material very well, and how to transform the world surrounding the agent we all know. We have the cars here, we have the gadgets here of course, but there are some details that i would have wanted more of. Like in the final scenes, where Bond is trying to escape a building, as he runs to find a way out. That is basically the action scene, and it is in the end of the film. In other Bond films in the past, you would see explosions, guns shooting, fighting, you know, all those things that we wanted to see James Bond do. Let´s not talk about the final scene between Bond and Blofeld, it is not a worthy ending. We do have some treats though, like the train fighting scene between Daniel Craig and Dave Bautista, that´s more like it. In the end, Spectre is far too slow, if you compare to Skyfall, that managed to be both entertaining and deliver really well made action sequences. I respect director Sam Mendes for working with Daniel Craig again, because they do work well together. I suppose this time it must have been harder to keep the Bond spitit as high as Skyfall did, and this is why it does not work as well this time. The Bond girls are alright, especially Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann. I like seeing Monica Belluci here as one of Bond´s girls, but mostly because she represent that you don´t have to have young women only, women in all ages should be able to be in a film like this. Her scenes are very short, so you really don´t get to see her much. Spectre is a stylish Bond film, and well made, there is no question about that. But if Christopher Walz could have been insane, and made Blofeld a better villain, we could have had something more interesting here. I still recommend you see Spectre if you enjoy James Bond films, there are many things to enjoy after all, even if i might sound negative sometimes. Daniel Craig have done it again, he proves why he knows how to transform his own style of the legendary british agent. There are rumours that this might be the last time he does this character again, who knows ? But i know James Bond will return, he always does, so until next time, i am having myself a martini, shaken, not stird, and i might as well have some Ron De Jeremy Rum also. I bet that will be the next Bond favourite, because we all know he have a good taste in life.

Rating: DDD