Spectre: James Bond Faces His Restless Ghosts

Director Sam Mendes captured lightning in a bottle with his 2012 James Bond feature Skyfall, such that the director’s follow-up, Spectre, was practically destined to be lesser animal. Nonetheless, the new film proves a stimulating addition to the late-model Bond pictures, cementing Daniel Craig’s 007 stint as a franchise highpoint.

Where Skyfall centered on M, whose past errors in judgment returned to threaten her like Frankenstein’s creation, Spectre poses such a crisis for Bond himself. Spurred by a posthumous plea from his old boss, 007 (Craig) goes rogue to hunt down an assassin in Mexico. Following the trail leads him to a cryptic organization dubbed SPECTRE that seems to have its tentacles in much of the world’s crime and terrorism. A not-so-chance encounter with the leader (Christoph Walz) of this cabal eventually directs Bond to an old foe and then to psychologist Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), whose memories prove key to locating the mastermind’s lair.

Lensed by Hote Van Hoytema, Spectre looks fantastic, captivating from its first enthralling long take through the Mexico City’s streets and over its rooftops during the Day of the Dead. The film makes lush use of shallow focus and the cinematic widescreen, and the action sequences are cut in a fashion that impeccably echoes, for example, a brawl in a wildly wheeling helicopter or a sports car chase through narrow Roman streets.

Where Spectre falters is in plotting: The connective tissue between scenes is frequently difficult to follow, and the gadgetry that is usually one of the franchise’s delights mostly just allows dubious storytelling shortcuts. Still, the film’s overarching narrative ambition—linking all of the Craig films and taking Bond to some unexpected psychological places—is satisfyingly executed. Devotees and casual fans of 007 alike will likely find Spectre a worthy, thrilling chapter.

Spectre opens Friday, November 6 in wide release.