Sam Mendes
Spectre

[Contains spoilers]

Spectre is the fourth film in the 007 series starring Daniel Craig and the second directed by Sam Mendes. After the beautiful Skyfall, this new episode is at least partly a disappointment and a significant step back in the narrative quality. The work is very well-crafted from an aesthetic point of view, in the photographic presentation of the sequences, in the care of environmental, scenographic, chromatic, and lighting details, especially in the first half of the film.

But unlike the 2012 film, there is a lack of substantial originality in the diegetic structure; that film indeed developed a truly unusual and fresh final phase with James Bond and M taking refuge at Skyfall. Spectre, however, purely follows the aesthetic and content-based canons of the long-standing saga inspired by Ian Fleming's novels, in their last decade's interpretation. Hence, we find a whole series of clichés that, although not annoying, don't help the film to shine: for example, in the central phase, the romance with yet another female lead (Léa Seydoux, the right face) certainly doesn't enhance the freshness of the film. But even on a more macro level, the structure is modeled on the classic treasure hunt in which James simply has to find a key clue that will lead him to the next enemy. In this sense, the plot of this chapter really is minimal and is not surprisingly filled with many spectacular action sequences.

Not to mention the one that opens the film with a nice sequence shot (which should be further explored), a series of astonishing helicopter antics, as well as an exceptional setting like Mexico City full of extras. If in this example, the spectacle, pushed to the limit, doesn't exceed the threshold of bad taste, in other cases Mendes perhaps exaggerates. For instance, in the long and frankly excessive car chase through the streets of a Rome that seems to have become a car racing circuit. At the level of unrealism, this scenario pairs with the Tarantino-style brawl between the protagonist and the brute Bautista on the train.

The entire final part then marks a significant drop in quality because the originality, the freshness of the settings, the variety of chromatic tones, and the acceptable structuring of the action sequences give way to predictable plot developments and frankly redundant moments that reek too much of déjà vu. The ending with the poorly executed device of the old MI6 building collapsing and the shootout where Bond takes down the enemy's helicopter is unconvincing.

Even the meticulous care for the exterior package is somewhat neglected in these moments, where previously there was interesting work on the figure of the villain Christoph Waltz: in Rome, only his silhouette was shown backlit, without displaying his face features. When he finally enters the Spectre base scene, he does so with venomous refinement, in light and aseptic environments, with elegant clothes, pastel colors, bare ankles, and loafers. A really original iconography of the villain, which is denied in the dark finale. The emblematic appearance of the overused scar on the eye suffices.

Moreover, in such a long film, they could certainly have better explored the events concerning Bond's and Franz Oberhauser's pasts. And then the most obvious flaw of the film: the writing of the dialogues and the jokes that are no longer funny.

6/10