The Spectre of “Skyfall”

I’m going to break with tradition by (a) Actually posting something (sorry for the absence) and (b) Being current, which I know is supposed to be the purpose of a blog, but I tend to do things a little differently. Which brings me onto Spectre and the teaser trailer that dropped yesterday…

You’ll know my opinion on Skyfall by now. Whilst there is much to commend it as a film, it remains, to me at least, too removed from what a Bond Film is, or should be. It’s too introspective. It’s too Dark Knight. There are great moments and it looks fantastic, but I struggle to reconcile what I’m watching (I’ve seen it three times now) with my view of what it could, or should be. I’ll acknowledge quite happily that my vision of Bond has led the franchise to some pretty horrible places over the years. Die Another Day is almost entirely without merit, due mainly to Pierce Brosnan phoning in his performance and some truly embarrassing effects work. Yet the pre-title sequence is, unashamedly, classic Bond. Skyfall is a quantum (of solace?) leap forward from that, and if it had immediately followed Die Another Day as the reboot it so clearly is, I would probably herald it as a brilliant reimagining of Bond for the Modern World. But that would be to ignore the superb Casino Royale and its companion piece/direct sequel Quantum of Solace. These had already reinvented Bond quite brilliantly (“Shaken or stirred?” “Do I look like I give a damn?”) so to do so again was both unnecessary and, in my opinion, self-defeating.

So I guess it’s no surprise that I greeted the news that Sam Mendes was back at the helm for what would be Bond 24 with some trepidation (I’ll say something about the guy I wanted to helm it, Matthew Vaughn, who’s gone on to direct his own ultraviolent, post-modernist Bond film – Kingsman: The Secret Service, elsewhere at a later date). On one hand the continuity would at least mean that there was no danger of another re-imagining (evolution, not revolution), but on the other hand was there a risk that this would take the franchise further away from the Bond I knew. Then the title dropped. Spectre. A link to the past. There was a glimmer of hope. Would this be the Special Executive for Counterintelligence Terrorism Revenge and Extortion I had grown up with? A target for Bond and a catalyst that would provide impetus to drive the films that would follow forward. A sinister organisation, along the lines of SPECTRE had slowly been emerging in Craig’s pre-Skyfall films and that had been exciting, until the groundwork had been undone so completely in Skyfall. The brilliant (double) Oscar®-winning Christoph Waltz was added to the cast. My excitement began to build (ignoring the fact that (a) the brilliant Oscar®-winning Javier Bardem had not delivered previously and (b) only Quentin Tarantino can squeeze the best, and then some, out of Waltz). Then the first image from the set – the now infamous “Milk Tray Man” shot which I loved. This looked like the Bond I knew (there have been so many truly great Bond moments in the snow) and there was something reassuringly old-school about it all. Perhaps the dark glasses hiding his eyes so I didn’t have to deal with his bloody tortured soul helped. And then the teaser trailer emerged…

…and we’re back to square one (almost…). Oh, I know, it’s only a teaser trailer – it’s not supposed to reveal too much. There’s an Aston Martin (yay!) and a rather indistinct line of dialogue about a ‘kite dancing in a hurricane’ (which sounds suspiciously, and confusingly, like ‘a c*nt dancing in a hurricane’… but I’m not going to retitle this post even if the shock value alone would earn me ridiculous numbers of hits) and it’s all a bit dark (I actually really like the work of the cinematographer, Hoyte Van Hoytema rather a lot, particularly what he did with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Let the Right One In) or, dare I say, dull. And whilst no-one expects someone to be stroking a white cat, or sharks with frickin’ lasers on their heads, or hollowed-out volcanoes, the gathering of the sinister organisation looks to be a cross between Sandford’s Neighbourhood Watch Alliance (“for the Greater Good”) and the Illuminati from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (bet you forgot Daniel Craig was in that too…). The one saving grace is – is that Mr White (no, not that one)? From the shadowy organisation, Quantum, in the first two Craig films? Have they had a corporate rebranding? I think it might be (*crosses fingers*)…

And with that I’ve (just about) managed to avoid hitting the blog hat-trick with (c) being negative about something without having all the facts. It almost was a red-letter day, people. And like all those “other” internet commentators, any negativity I do have might be misplaced,  no matter how much I protest to the contrary. And believe me, nothing would make me happier (well, almost nothing…) Time will tell (on 23 October 2015, provided Daniel Craig’s knee holds up)…