You know when a movie trailer looks so good you think it will be the greatest thing to hit theaters that year, but then you see the full film and it disappoints. That's what Spectre did. It looked phenomenal in the previews and had fans going crazy with expectations, but ultimately it made a few too many mistakes and just didn't deliver on what was promised in the trailer.
1. The opening long take (with some disguised cuts hidden in the right places) in the pre-title sequence is a thing of beauty, not only because of the unique filmmaking technique, but also the countless extras in amazing costumes, a recreation of Mexico's Day of the Dead festival, and the impressive stunt flying.
2. Speaking of that stunt helicopter, it is incredible what they do with that machine and watching Bond fight off two opponents at the same time while keeping the helicopter from crashing makes for a fun watch. It is the combination of the opening long take, production design, and stunt work that helped seal this as my favorite pre-title sequence of the entire franchise. Although, after many viewings and the newness of the thing has worn off it might drop to number two on my list. We will see where it lands after I re-rank the franchise once I've seen No Time to Die.
3. This is the third time we've seen Bond's apartment, and a new one at that. I don't need to see where he lives in every movie, but it is always delightful when it happens.
4. Many fans hate the part when Bond escapes the villainous organizations meeting in Rome and subsequent car chase through empty streets. Considering it is essentially an information dump done in an interesting way, I don't mind it at all. I also think that when the music hits its zenith and Bond's Aston Martin DB10 and Mr. Hinx's Jaguar C-X75 are cruising through the square it is a magnificent moment.
5. When Bond meets with Mr. White it is a reunion I've been wanting for since Quantum of Solace. The brief scene in Quantum of Solace between the two of them left fans wanting more and this is a great follow up to that moment. How can you not love it when Mr. White says, "You're a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond."
6. "A license to kill is also a license NOT to kill."
7. Meeting Dr. Madeleine Swann shows that Daniel Craig's Bond can be playful and fun. It isn't all doom and gloom in his films. She is also a well-written, fleshed out character for a Bond girl. I recognize the complaints about how quickly she and Bond fall in love, but it does also make sense that she would understand a man like him and find comfort in that kind of relationship. I don't mind at all how the writers handled the two of them and am happy to see her return for No Time to Die.
8. This is the best train fight since From Russia with Love. Mr. Hinx is a bull in a china shop as he manhandles Bond from car to car. By the end of it you can truly believe how exhausted and beaten 007 is.
9. Another argument I don't agree with other fans about is the escape from Blofeld's crater hideout. Most complain it feels like a sequence from a video game. My takeaway from the sequence is how awesome Bond is in taking out the unnamed goons. As each target gets farther and farther away 007 has to change his shooting stance in order to better aim. I get that he just went through torture and is supposed to be half-beaten, but I also just don't care and like watching him be the superior marksman.
10. There are very subtle nods to Ian Fleming's short story "The Hildebrand Rarity" and Kingsley Amis's continuation novel Colonel Sun. The best Easter eggs are the ones that aren't obvious, and these definitely fly under the radar for people who aren't familiar with the literary character.
11. How this movie ends with Bond and Madeleine driving off into the overcast London sunset is actually a great way to end Craig's tenure. It wasn't known if he would return for another movie, so finishing things up in an ambiguous way as to make the viewer question if he has left the service entirely or is just going on holiday with his new love is fine. I had always been under the assumption that he left MI6 completely behind because it was a more final way of ending things for this Bond and the way Q says, "Bond, I thought you had left." This version of Q nearly always calls him 007, not Bond. So by calling him Bond instead of his code name it made me believe he had quit. I feel justified in this line of thinking with how No Time to Die is expected to start.
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