007 reports for duty one last time

By Hoda Hassan

The highly anticipated last instalment of Daniel Craig as James Bond, titled ‘Spectre’ was recently released by popular demand after the commercial success of the previous Bond film ‘Skyfall’.

The film is to be the closing chapter of Craig’s rendition of the iconic 007 character, as early this year it had been announced that Daniel Craig would be stepping down from the role. Meaning Spectre is he’s last cinematic appearance as James Bond.

So what can you expect from this film? Well in typical Bond fashion you can expect guns, girls, intense chases and a mysterious unknown villain. And of course we’ll follow Bond to the far corners of the world in the search to find the mystery baddie and knock a few heads along the way, so pretty much the usual. Oh and you can’t forget the gadgets, they’re the coolest part, where would Bond be without some bombs disguised as everyday objects.

From having seen the film myself I found the film to be quite entertaining. It’s everything you would think an action film like Bond to be, however there were some problems. The duration of the film for one, it could have easily been cut down. There were a lot of scenes that seemed unnecessary and didn't really add anything to the story. This made the whole film seem as if it dragged on for longer than it should have, you could really feel every minute going by sluggishly at times. The run time of Spectre was a whopping two hours and thirty minutes (slightly longer than Skyfall) which is a really long time if think of it. Suffice it to say that the timing played a big part in this film not living up to its hype.

Another thing Spectre could have eased up on was the simplification of the plot, especially when it would transition. The film made a habit of connecting the dots too cleanly and easily, making the next thing Bond did so obvious that you could pretty much guess at what the next scene would be and get it right.

It was like watching every single Bond cliché melded into one film, which is fine if you like that sort of thing but is it too much to ask for something new.  I mean you know the 007 character, but still I hoped or wanted the film to take a different approach, experiment a little, but no such luck. However, I can appreciate Spectre for what it is, a wanderlust giving cash cow. I mean who doesn't want to go to Mexico City now?

I suppose the big redeeming quality of this film is the humour. It was genially funny at times I cracked a smile once or twice. Mr Bond really did deliver in that respect even making fun of himself a little. I’ve always thought that Britain had a unique comedy style a combination of sarcasm and the ability to poke fun at one’s self and Bond being the pinnacle of Britishness as fictional characters go, it’s only fitting that he give it a go too. And it certainly put smile on my face maybe it will do the same for you.

But I suppose you would have to see the film to find out, so go on find the closest cinema and judge it for yourself, Spectre is out now.