Spectre
2015 · Directed by Sam Mendes
Original language: English
- action
- adventure
- thriller
The story
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
What it’s like
Sweeping, cinematic widescreen with a cool, polished look: a single long tracking shot through a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, snow-white Alpine peaks and glassy ski lodges, Roman marble and Tangier's sun-bleached streets, and grey, rain-slicked London in the closing reels. The palette swings from warm amber and crimson to icy blues and steel. Sam Mendes frames his actors with classical composure, and Thomas Newman's score pulses with orchestral swells and muted brass, with a sleek title song layered over the opening credits. The mood is glamorous and tense, a mix of old-fashioned spy-romance elegance and modern action propulsion, with brisk pacing and a few lingering quiet passages. Its people, Bond and M especially, face loyalty, mortality and institutional decline, and the arc is about a man confronting the ghosts of his past. Expect plenty of action: gunfights, a car chase through Rome, a snowbound aerial sequence, and a grim, drawn-out torture scene that is tense rather than gory. Sensual flirtation and some romance, but nothing explicit. Suits viewers who want a big, stylish night out and enjoy a Bond film with a melancholic streak.
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