Hyped up Spectre's damp show: Bond on budget. Review on Spectre

I come from the hard old traditional school of Bond fans, who feel Bond & Bond flavors should be portrayed just as depicted by Fleming( who based his hero's looks on Howard Hoagy Charmichael)- 40ish, dangerous charming looks with a suave dashing demeanor- A man who appears cruel and kind with a sarcastic appeal, yet oozes class and sophistication- A product of the English elite class( Eton types you know) no less.

Connery & Moore best fit the bill. So did Lazenby & Dalton. Brosnan gave it a tad cheesy & metro sexual appeal compromising on the traditional retro & classy charm. But they were all there. Craig's Bond, cheered forward by general folk most of whom don't have a clue( else why would someone want to see a black Bond?) is a stone block, very unsophisticated and all the good things a "Bond flick" stood for through ages were damned thrice!

Putting Daniel Craig's Bond aside( His poor acting, zero-class appeal, Stone-block demeanor, lack of sophistication, with a body language of an MMA wrestler and with crooked legs walking like a crab)  let's talk about this oh so costly movie. I went to see the Bond film and figure if there are any improvements. Never had expectations from the actor- Craig. But he has shown a wee improvement here. Just a wee bit.

All Hype? Spectre promised a lot.  Looks like clever media hype! Costly tickets eh? They hiked prices for this one. Let's not go by stats and awed reviews from uncouth folk. if we did then Fast n furious series is a Oscar deserving classic and so is the transporter eh? Rubbish!

To start with The theme music is a sham- the worst choice ever made. At times sounds more like a fairy tale theme. We are presented with a thin papery voice screeching through very romantically, or perhaps like a broken hearted Romeo pining away. Bah! So un-Bond! Themes have always been a USP for Bond films.

The plot is poor, linear and thin. Now Craig's Bond always had budget issues. So grand opening scenes or action sequences are forgone conclusions. Gone are the days of Golden Eye or Moonraker's monumental  openings. The epic Aston Martin DB 10 V/s Jaguar car chase that we all have been anticipating is nothing but a bore. 2 cars running through Rome for several minutes and no gadgets to boot. Mendes gives glimpses of  gadgets but avoids actually deploying those. Why? The costs of special effects action scenes? Then that average chopper flying scene at the beginning- nothing spectacular about it- its not a Golden Eye or Spy who loved me. Hello? It is for those very things that James Bond is Bond- I am not looking forward to see Jason Borne or Transporter here! The first half of Spectre is watchable as a generic action flick. The 2nd half is boring, very loose, almost comical and extremely disappointing.

Direction- Apparently Mendes has focused on some thin amalgamation and copy pasting of ideas and scenes, and has mastered doing a Bond film on a shoe string budget . Like a chocolate cake with no real chocolate! No use of expensive actions scenes.Nothing fancy! Camera work not so great. Shakes a lot during the mexico scene.Sam Mendes is not the guy you want to direct a Bond flick and that is visible! He'll do good in Bollywood!( skyfall told us)

The story is about Bond retracing his past and a possible family connection to the world's most secretive and lethal criminal organization. For this, he unofficially enlists help from his dept, ex adversaries, colleagues and some love interests on the way as he ends up saving British Secret Service from being destroyed and taken over by the goons!

Now what about that grand start cast? Cheating actually!

Monica Bellucci is on screen for barely less than 2 minutes maybe. The charismatic Christoff Waltz maybe 8-10 minutes in all with a character that offers neither presence, drama, terror, nor diabolic sequences or actions as you would expect the boss of a world's top criminal group to deliver- his Blofeld/Oberhauser is a spec of dust floating about for less than 10 minutes and nothing to offer. Shame- A mesmerizing actor like Waltz not being used! This is the most un- villainous villain in a Bond flick I've ever seen.

Ben Whishaw's Q- is the only thing good along with Fieness's "M". Reminds you of  the begone Connery and Moore Bond era. Moneypenny doesn't have much to do. Dave batistuta's big Henchman delivers but not al that great. Could have been more effective. No where near "Odd Job" of Goldfinger or "Jaws" from moonraker etc.

Its was very welcome now and then to see old Bondish flavors popping up here and there in the visuals and dialogues- attempt was made. Just not good enough.

On a realistic note- Very Weak story, little action, none-existant grand star cast, average photography and an even poorer  second half and flat finishing is why this is not worth big bucks! There have been small improvements yes- But to join the league of the Connery classics this outfit and system just won't do.