Spectre 2015

This film looks gorgeous. Hoyte van Hoytema really proves himself as a worthy successor to Roger Deakins. Even simple scenes like the boardroom meeting and the car chase feel elevated because of how they are shot. The Austria action sequence captures that old school large scale action filmmaking. Real locations, real vehicles, real destruction. I can feel the reality of impact and the physicality. When the plane skims across the snow or crashes through structures, there is a tangible sense of impact. That physicality is something CGI heavy films sometimes miss. Refreshing to witness such a carefully constructed sequence. The story also leans into that classic spy trope where a criminal organization infiltrates and manipulates a spy agency from within. It reminds me of Captain America The Winter Soldier with Hydra inside SHIELD. Also similar ideas appear in Mission Impossible Rogue Nation with the Syndicate operating in the shadows. The car train fight was nicely staged and choreographed too. Christoph Waltz was quite terrifying here. He brings that calm but unsettling presence. Andrew Scott, however, is underutilized. The explosion in Blofeld’s base is great too with its practicality and reality. But I do wish they held on that moment longer. It deserved more screen time to really let the scale sink in. Gotta give it to Sam Mendes, Hoyte van Hoytema, and Thomas Newman for making this a great Bond film.