When Sam Smith’s “Writing’s on the Wall” came out before the new Bond movie “Spectre," there was heavy criticism that the song didn’t feel like it belonged in the 007 series. Those who criticized the song were left wondering what that gut feeling meant for the movie.
As it turns out, the song was the least of the movie’s problems.
“Spectre” is a bloated production that focuses more on spectacle and style than narrative and substance. The movie is beautiful and has some great cinematography, but this beauty is only surface deep. “Spectre” is riddled with both logical absences and poor writing.
Returning for his fourth time as Bond, Daniel Craig is one of the film's biggest problems. Craig’s portrayal of Bond is a completely emotionless, stagnate character that has had little development across the four films. While the little development may have worked in the past three movies, the character falls apart in this movie.
“Spectre” tries to be the best of both worlds but ends up failing on both fronts. It wants to keep the serious nature of the past three films, but it also wants to introduce the gadgets and humor from the older Bond movies.
Having the previously serious Bond trying to deliver comedic lines feels weird — there really is no better word to describe it. Craig’s portrayal of Bond has been a rather emotionless killing machine who occasionally gets close enough to women to have casual sex before leaving for his next mission.
“Spectre” wants to have its Bond both ways, but it fails to convincingly portray his character with any emotional depth. The style of Bond that Pierce Brosnan and Sean Connery portrayed worked because it was consistent across all of their film appearances. Suddenly trying to change Craig’s Bond feels forced and unnatural.
Another large problem with “Spectre” is the role the women have in the film. Bond movies have always had a problem portraying women as anything more than sexual objects. Sometimes there are powerful women, such as Judi Dench’s portrayal of M in the three previous films and seven total Bonds. However, “Spectre” fails to use any of its female leads effectively.
Monica Bellucci is in the movie almost entirely for the purpose of Bond to have sex with her. Bond pushes up against her character moments after her husband’s death — both inappropriate and creepy. Her screen time is so short that she might as well have not been in the movie.
The other female lead, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), starts off strong but ultimately falls under Bond’s charm in line with the other women.
Even Bond’s charm falls flat because the script and dialogue are poorly written. The story is full of plot holes and logical inconsistencies. The dialogue feels both unnatural and forced. In “Spectre," characters both do and say things that are questionable at best because the movie is more concerned with set pieces and action scenes.
The only aspects of the movie that remain strong throughout are the cinematography and Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of Blofeld. Waltz’s version of the classic Bond villain is a pleasure to watch, but Waltz always gives a strong performance, so it shouldn’t be a surprise.
Following “Skyfall," director Sam Mendes wanted to infuse “Spectre” with both the seriousness of the current Bond, while reintroducing the classic elements from older Bond movies. The final result was an overstuffed, thematically messy film that missed the mark on both fronts. “Spectre” fails to deliver anything more than a visually impressive collection of set pieces.