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Craig returns to spy another day. Below, Seydoux
Five reasons we’re psyched for Spectre
After 2012’s dazzling Skyfall, we can’t help but hope this is the best one yet. By David Ehrlich and Joshua Rothkopf
Summer’s in the rearview mirror and (thank heavens) the serious Oscar films are finally here. Although we’re suffering from action and franchise fatigue, we’re still excited for the exceptional exception—and that exception is the next chapter in the oldest franchise in cinematic history: Bond. Yes, our favorite secret agent is back with a new batch of gadgets, spycraft and intense looks from Daniel Craig’s
reinvented 007. Here are just a few reasons we think Spectre could be extra special.
1 2
Our favorite Bond just keeps getting grittier.
Even as early as the 2006 Casino Royale, we called Craig the best Bond in the series (sorry, Sean Connery), and we’re sticking to it. James Bond has gone through hell and back, and it shows in the grit, menace and pain Craig exudes.
Decades later, the real criminals are back.
As you might have guessed from the title, author Ian Fleming’s S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is back. The sinister
crime syndicate, represented by the mysterious Ernst Blofeld and his numbered henchmen, is responsible for many of the
most dastardly plots in the early James Bond films, but it hasn’t been seen in almost 50 years. Could Waltz be playing Blofeld 2.0?
3
Léa Seydoux is the newest Bond girl.
So far, all we know about Seydoux’s character is that she’s named Madeleine Swann and she knows a little something about
S.P.E.C.T.R.E. But that’s enough to get us excited about the thought of the Blue Is the Warmest Color star making her mark in this universe. Every Bond movie needs a sultry double–agent who lives under the villain’s thumb against her will, and Seydoux’s steely eyes convey an intelligence that makes her a perfect choice.
4
Day of the Dead celebrations are in the mix.
The Bond series has a long, somewhat iffy history of
transforming national traditions into backdrops for awesome action set
pieces (think of Italy’s Palio horse race at the beginning of Quantum of Solace), and Spectre is set to up the ante with an explosive chase sequence that tramples through Mexico City’s Day of the Dead festivities. We have a feeling a few disposable henchmen will be getting into the spirit of the holiday more than they’d like.
5
There are sweet cars, crazy stunts and badass villains. From the trailer alone, we know Bond will race his new car up the side of an aqueduct, fire at bad guys from the front of a boat, and—most impressively—kill bad guys in a helicopter as it corkscrews through the air. Spectre already looks like a marvelously old-fashioned antidote to all the weightless CGI spectacle that drapes most contemporary blockbusters.
Spectre opens Nov 6 at local theaters.
September–November 2015
TIMEOUT.COM/CHICAGO 51
Franchises are forever
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