![]() ![]() Monica Bellucci, much like the cars and the streets of Rome, is used only for her beauty, filling up screen time with something to admire rather than be amazed at. It’s so boring that even Bond gets out his mobile ‘phone and rings someone up! The scenery is stunning, the cinematography is flawless, yet the actual chase is an afterthought just two beautiful cars driving around empty streets. Take the car chase in the streets of Rome. Bond has always been a ‘Traveller’s Guide To Espionage,’ but the film drifted slowly from location to location, without using the particular location to its fullest extent. But SPECTRE tried to be an action thriller and an arthouse film at the same time, and failed at both. I appreciate a beautiful scene or shot in a film as much as anybody. Pure cinematic brilliance…for ten minutes! Unfortunately, that was to be the fate of much of the film: chases that lacked any sense of tension, scenes that tested patience for no reason, and lingering shots that would be perfect in a museum but not in a film. It descended into an extended, hard-to-see, and interminable fight in a helicopter. Once we saw a visible cut, as Bond found his target, the sequence faltered. In its majesty lay its downfall, and the downfall of SPECTRE in general. The beginning was the end, in terms of excitement, intrigue and applause-worthy cinema. I could easily watch that tracking scene over and over again. Occuring at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico, the camera glided and floated above proceedings with majesty worthy of few directors. Truly, the opening tracking shot rivalled the one out of ‘Touch of Evil’ for pure cinema gold. What I experienced was an incredible opening that segued into an over-long, dull film that had moments of brilliance that were few and far between… Maybe that dampened my cinema experience maybe the over-enthusiastic media dampened my cinema experience but maybe SPECTRE wasn’t worthy of all the praise it has received. After being hammered by Bond adverts (both in the form of trailers and adverts for watches, beers and cars), when I reached SPECTRE at the cinema I was already at the point of exhaustion from seeing Daniel Craig. ![]() When that film is a James Bond film, my suspicions are aroused even further. Whenever a heavily promoted film receives four or five stars in most of the national newspapers, I am always suspicious.
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