Spectre Review

Spectre Review

By Rhiannon Lotze

Converged Citizen Staff

Bond is back and has left some moviegoers neither shaken nor stirred but rather a little flat. Daniel Craig reprised his role as the suave spy for the fourth time in Spectre, the latest installment of the Bond franchise. The film served up a breakneck pace of adventure and a heart-stopping dose of action. From Mexico to Rome, Austria to Morocco and finally back to England, the destinations were enthralling for Spectre spectators. The stunts were even more thrilling, especially in the opening scenes where Bond brought down the house –literally –and did battle in midair, all in the midst of an enormous Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico.

However, the villain of this film, played by the über-talented Christoph Waltz fell, for some, below expectations. It wasn’t the fault of the actor in this case, but rather the writers and director. Franz Oberhauser, the name of the baddie in Spectre, was simply not given enough screen time or written with enough depth. His back story was intriguing but under-explored. His mind was brilliant but under-utilized. He had so much potential to be a bone-chilling bad guy and Christoph Waltz could have executed it perfectly but unfortunately did not.

Oberhauser wasn’t the only weak link either. Léa Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann seemed to be little more than an excuse to give Bond someone to drape over his arm and Monica Belluci’s character was in and out of the film so quickly, she was soon forgotten. In fact, the most memorable supporting characters were hardly even in the film. Eve Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris, was a welcome, powerful relief from the damsels in distress that so frequently fill the screen in Bond films and Ben Whishaw, as Q, enraptured fans with his quirky smarts.

Overall, this film is a seven out of 10. For moviegoers searching for high-adrenaline action, Spectre is excellent. However, people looking for profound characters may feel Disappointment. James Disappointment.