‘There’s a buzz in this city’

10 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015 507 MAGAZINE • www.PB507.com
FLICKS
MED CITY MOVIE GUY
Not a bad film —
but a bad ‘Bond’
Associated Press photos
By Chris Miksanek
life@postbulletin.com
Global intrigue, gadgets, cheeky humor, scantily-clad (or
gold-painted) strumpets. These have been the hallmarks
of a James Bond film for more than a half-century.
“Spectre,” Daniel Craig’s fourth appearance as Ian
Fleming’s quintessential secret agent, continues a regrettable
slide away from the traditional sometimes-campy interpretation
personified by Sean Connery and Roger Moore.
This may be the inevitable fate of a franchise that by
its 24th film has evolved to a higher form absent the
frivolity and other risks that a reported $300 million
budget would leave little room for.
What is Bonded comes off only cursory. He has a
boss named “M” and a confederate in the tech labs
named “Q.” He carries a Walther PPK and even
in the finest tailored suits moves like a ninja.
They’ve resurrected one of the most famous villains,
Ernst Blofeld, so synonymous with Bond
that Austin Powers battled a parody of him
(the Donald Pleasence version).
Yet, even the exquisitely villainous Christoph
Waltz as the head of the eponymous
crime organization doesn’t come off as
much of a threat. Seriously, we live in a
post-Snowden world that readily accepts
the specious failure of hard drives with
inconvenient information, and we’re to
believe the systematic aggregation of
surveillance video in Blofeld’s secret
lair poses a threat? C’mon, even Dr.
Evil had a nuclear warhead.
Absent the vintage Bond vibe,
“Spectre” differs little from
a “Mission: Impossible” or
“Bourne” installment. Which is
not to say this one’s a disappointing
film; rather it’s a
disappointing James
Bond film.
Pity. The opening
sequence — a vibrant
Dea de Muertos
celebration — set a
trajectory that if
sustained might
have ranked this
one among the
best of the
brand.
Could have been one of the best
Instead, by the time Bond saves the day, he has to
endure a torture session that fits somewhere between
Malcolm McDowell in “A Clockwork Orange” and
Dustin Hoffman in “Marathon Man.” It should have
been unsettling but instead made me nostalgic for the
old-school unnecessarily elaborate exterminations of
days past. Solid but unbalanced action felt longish.
Subplot seemed contrived. Lea Seydoux (“The
Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Midnight in Paris”)
and Monica Bellucci co-star.
Chris Miksanek is a Rochester
freelance writer.