It’s been three years since Skyfall, but finally, Spectre has arrived.
Is the fourth instalment with Daniel Craig as James Bond everything we’d hoped it would be? It’s slick and powerful with more gags in years – it’s up there, but it’s no Octopussy.
We were at the first global screening of the film at London’s Leicester Square, here are seven things that left us shaken and stirred…
Torture
Bond finds himself in the hands of the evil, omnipresent Franz Oberhauser, played by the brilliant Christoph Waltz. As head of SPECTRE, and responsible for all of Bond’s personal heartache, he’s a natural villain.
Strapped to a computerised chair controlled by Oberhauser, a tiny robotic drill penetrates Bond’s skull, not once but twice, with his eyes next in line, which, with those piercing blue wonders would be a travesty. Not for the squeamish…
Aston Martin DB10
It’s silver and sexy and cost MI5 £3million to build. Bond ends up ‘borrowing’ it for a covert mission, and a car chase through Rome’s streets gives him the opportunity to test the car’s gadgets including ‘backfire’ and ‘auto eject’.
Aston Martin actually created 10 versions of the DB10 for the film, with two of each used for separate rolls in order to complete one of many impressive sequences from director Sam Mendes.
Léa Seydoux
While it’s a shame Monica Bellucci’s role is far smaller than anticipated, Léa Seydoux as doctor Madeleine Swann is a breath of fresh air for Bond girls/women.
Swann is intelligent, independent, charming and feisty. The daughter of Bond’s nemesis Mr White matches and raises 007 on every level. She seduces Bond back but is willing to walk away, we like that…
Slick, slick suits
James has more suits and sunglasses than ever before. He gets through them quicker than he does underpants, which he obviously is too cool and to busy to bother with anyway.
Daniel Craig revealed the fact to Radio 1: “However long it takes to shoot 30 seconds, which can be a day, we have to have one suit for that day, one suit for the next day.
“Every stage of the fight has a different suit. We can get through 30 suits for one sequence.”
Opener
The movie begins in Mexico City on the Day of the Dead parade; within minutes 007 is in a bedroom with a hot woman, who he quickly leaves to shoot people and blow stuff up. Oh, and then fight for his life in an out-of-control-helicopter only to fly from the city. You know, an average Monday…
Jokes
There’s more humour and one-liners than the previous three spy films in the franchise. Intelligence genius Q, played by Ben Whishaw, is a natural at comedy, but the best gag of the film comes from Ralph Fiennes.
Fiennes has fully taken over from Judi Dench, whose former M may be dead, but is far from forgotten. She rules from the grave…
Length
Running at 148 minutes, it’s the longest Bond film ever. However, despite the time, an integral part of the plot (which we won’t spoil for you) gets a little lost. You will be shaken and stirred and your arse will be numb.
