Rory Kinnear

REVIEW: SPECTRE (2015)

spectre elenasquareeyesWhen James Bond’s (Daniel Craig) past comes back to haunt him, he discovers a sinister organisation. Meanwhile in London M (Ralph Fiennes) has battle a political programme to keep the secret service alive.

The opening sequence in Mexico was amazing. It really starts SPECTRE with a bang and it’s a highlight of the film. The continuous tracking shots of Bond as he moves from the crowded streets to the rooftops are brilliant and then the helicopter stunts are tense and jaw-dropping. It’s one of the best opening’s to a Bond film and then follows Sam Smith’s theme song which plays incredibly well with the title sequence.

SPECTRE has a lot more humour than the previous Craig-Bond films and it does well in balancing the humour and the tension. The action-scenes are still pretty great but t’s the hand-to-hand fights that are the most impressive. When Bond faces off against Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) it’s a sight to behold and I loved Hinx, he’s huge and deadly but also smart, definitely a worthy adversary for Bond.

The guy puling all the strings is Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). He commands the screen whenever he appears and he has great chemistry with Bond. Part of me wishes there was more of him in SPECTRE because he was a joy to watch on screen but then I think it was great having this omnipresent character in the shadows, just out of reach and taunting Bond.

Team MI6 were great in SPECTRE. M has his own story and it’s great to see him in a political battle with Denbigh (Andrew Scott). I continue to love Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Q (Ben Whishaw) and Tanner (Rory Kinnear) and their relationship with both Bond and M, SPECTRE makes Q and Moneypenny seem more like their own characters even though their primary purpose it to help M and Bond.

The main problem I had with SPECTRE is that there’s so many references to previous Bond films. I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything if I hadn’t had my Bondathon this year but watching SPECTRE I couldn’t help but be reminded of various Bond films. Elements from Dr. No, From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Licence to Kill are all featured in SPECTRE to various extents. In some ways it could be a nice homage but really I found it quite distracting and SPECTRE didn’t really end up feeling like it’s own film.

SPECTRE is a lot of fun and is action-packed but the continuous references to previous Bond films is quite jarring and the ending wasn’t quite what you’d expect for Bond. 3/5.

REVIEW: Quantum of Solace (2008)

quantum_of_solace_ver4_xlgJames Bond (Daniel Craig) is on the hunt for revenge as he tries to stop the mysterious organisation Quantum from eliminating a countries most valuable resource.

Quantum of Solace is a direct sequel to Casino Royale (2006) it starts almost moments after Casino Royale ends and has a lot of the same characters and themes running through it. I definitely think you get more from Quantum of Solace if you watch it straight after Casino Royale as they work like one big story.

From interrogating Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) Bond, M (Judi Dench) and Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear) learn about the far-reaching organisation Quantum and Bond goes on the hunt for answers. His search leads him to industrialist Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) who seems to have many connections with dodgy military figures and with Quantum. When his search begins, Bond meets Camille (Olga Kurylenko) who is also out for revenge and while they may not trust each other to start with, they end up working together. Camille is great, she has a tragic backstory and is determined and resourceful and isn’t impressed by Bond. I love competent Bond girls and Camille is definitely one of the best.

A lot of the relationships between characters are expanded on in Quantum of Solace. You see how M does (generally) trust Bond to do the right thing, even if he does cause chaos, and Felix Leiter (Jeffery Wright) appears again and you see the respect he and James have for each other even though they are technically working on different sides in Quantum of Solace.

The memorable action sequences in Quantum of Solace for me was a boat chase in which Camille shows she doesn’t need saving, and the aerial dogfight (which again Camille is pretty great in) and the finale in the desert. Both Camille and Bond each have their own Bad Guys to face in the finale and the way the sequence is shot means it very tense and dramatic but not overly so.

Quantum of Solace continues to balance the emotional beats with great action, plot and characters and has a great yet understated Bond Girl in Camille. 4/5.

When I first watched Quantum of Solace years ago, I didn’t really get it as it was almost a direct sequel to Casino Royale which I hadn’t watched before – now watching them both in the right order, I enjoyed them a lot more.