Movie Trailer Review: Spectre

The name’s Bond. James Bond.

Hahaha no. The name’s Henry Smith. Obviously it’s Henry Smith.

007 is back, though, in a new trailer for Spectre!

Daniel Craig returns in his fourth film as the sleaziest spy in the world, and I have to be honest, it looks pretty good:

So good, in fact, that I had to talk about it on the internet.

Hold on to your hats, folks, we’re about to embark on a movie trailer review. For those of you who are uninitiated, please see here for how this is about to go down. For the rest of you folk(s), welcome back! I’ve missed you.

Talking Point #1: Is this the end for Daniel Craig?

Explosions, beautiful foreign women, James Bond snark: this movie (trailer) has it all. It even has Ralph Fiennes scowling.

It’s a shame, then, against the backdrop of the explosions and gunfights, there are several hints that this might be the last time we see 007 in his current image, blond and scowling like someone told him they liked Sean Connery better. First, Moneypenny (GoT fans might recognise her as Daenarys’ servant girl/second in command - it would be too easy for me to Google) talks about people thinking that Bond is “finished” - she goes on to say that she disagrees, but the rumblings in the background cannot be good for our favourite spy. There’s also an aside with Ben Whishaw’s Q where 007 asks him to “make him disappear”.

Throughout the trailer, there’s a foreboding sense that Bond may have bitten off more than he can chew, and that he’s looking to escape. I could, of course, be blowing smoke out of my bottom. I perhaps should not have swallowed that cigarette. There was a similar feel to Skyfall (Caution: Spoilers) - Bond is shot in the cold open, and Adele’s addition to the opening credits were literally centered around the phrase “this is the end”. The theme of the film was how Bond was out of practice and at the limit of his waning powers. Of course, it ends up being Judi Dench’s M who kicks the bucket, but maybe the red herring was just to lull us into a false sense of security before the dreaded kick. If Spectre ends up being Daniel Craig’s last film as has been foreshadowed here, it would be a shame, because…

Talking Point #2: Daniel Craig is Beginning to Enjoy the Role

I’m going to be honest with you: when they first announced that Daniel Craig was chosen to be the next Bond, I was a little upset. My Bond education had begun with the Nintendo 64 game Goldeneye, and being in my early twenties, my first experience with the Man with the Golden Gun had been Pierce Brosnan, who, if nothing else, certainly captured the sleazy aspect of 007 the best of all the Bond actors.

Initially, I refused to watch Casino Royale out of protest. In retrospect, it’s actually not bad, especially for a reboot. Quantum of Solace, however, was where I began to feel smugly vindicated in my meaningless disapproval of Daniel Craig. The Xbox 360 game Quantum of Solace was the reason I stopped buying video games based on movies. 2012’s Skyfall, however, is where I retracted my previous smug satisfaction, and had quite the ball with Daniel Craig as James Bond. He looked more comfortable in the role; there was a snappy rejoinder or two that was missing in the previous two films, and his pursuit of Bérénice Marlohe and her subsequent death was something I missed from the Pierce Brosnan era.

Here, he seems to have taken on the positive reaction to Skyfall and run with it, as this Bond seems like somebody you’d like to go on an adventure with (before he got you spectacularly killed). Plus, I would like to take a minute to marvel at Bond’s turtleneck. We didn’t see much of the tactleneck in the trailer, but it dominated the concept photos for Spectre, and if you’re looking closely you might spot a grey one around 45 seconds in.

Sorry… I was thinking about the tactleneck, and now I’ve forgotten what I was going to say. Moving on…

Talking Point #3: Where Does This Rank in the Bond Hierachy?

Casino Royale, while not being Batman Begins quality of gritty reboot, was far better than The Amazing Spider-Man. Quantum of Solace was the redheaded stepchild of the Daniel Craig-ology, while Skyfall was the best of the three so far. Can Spectre defeat Skyfall as the champion gladiator if the Bond films were gladiators and the colosseum was my under-stimulated brain? From this trailer, the answer might just be yes.

Daniel Craig isn’t the only one who looks like he’s having fun: there are car chases, explosions and foreign women who undress Bond with their eyes and ask pertinent questions vaguely relating to the plot. A henchman snaps a dude’s neck, for crying out loud! What more can I ask for in a Bond film? Plus, while Javier Bardem made for a compelling (and more than a little creepy) villain, this next film promises us… Christopher Waltz! When his face emerged from the shadows about two-thirds through the trailer, I had to go get the mop and wipe up all the excitement-pee.

Does it match up to the rest of the Bond films, however? Only time will tell. Spectre certainly looks the best from the trailers, but trailer-making techniques have definitely improved from 1962, when the first Bond movie was released. The latest instalment also has the benefit of improved special effects (most of the original films’ budget went toward making Sean Connery look like he wasn’t balding), but there’s a charm about the older Bond films which the newer renditions have failed to match (it’s not because they’re older - punch anybody in the throat who implies they’re better because they’re older). Despite this, I’m very optimistic about this trailer - and I don’t usually get this excited about film trailers. I give the Spectre trailer 5 stars, and nominate it for the movie trailer Oscars, which will be held in my living room and is on an invitation-only basis.

In conclusion - this trailer looked very good, but I don’t know what to ex-Spectre. Yes, that sentence existed only to serve that pun. I do not apologise.