One of the producers of the James Bond franchise isn’t anxious about replacing Daniel Craig for the next film.
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If the reviews are anything to go by, Spectre is very, very…okay, although most critics at least praise Craig’s performance. Ben Whishaw as Q gets more to do, for example, and steals the spotlight with his quick wit and chemistry with Craig. “While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the bad truth behind SPECTRE”.
Thanks to over a billion dollars at the box office, Skyfall’s director, Sam Mendes, returns to helm the follow-up, Spectre. Combined with $5.25 million from Thursday night previews, the spy adventure, directed by Sam Mendes and playing in 3,929 theaters, appears to have avoided the specter of box-office underperformance. This writer only hopes they learn from the mistakes of this movie so that next time Bond brings something that everyone will enjoy. “The simple answer is: I don’t want to think about it”, he told THR, adding: “Maybe I’ll make another one, I don’t know”.
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This marks the first time that both Jaguar and Aston Martin are keeping their star Bond cars out of production. The films have improved, deepening the story and providing real tension and excitement. We’re satisfied with the fact that this filmmaker, who has given the franchise such a huge boost, feels like his time in 007’s world has naturally drawn to its conclusion. For a film that runs for almost 150 minutes, it feels as if there should have been more than a half hour of Waltz. Clocking in at 148 minutes, SPECTRE is just too long and could have easily been edited down to help with those pesky pacing issues. It’s nearly certain he will do one more outing as Bond. French actress Lea Seydoux is miscast, her trademark sensuality dialed way down, and the script, credited to four different writers, is just as much of a hodge-podge as that number would suggest.
