Trailer Trashin’: James Bond Returns in the Final Spectre Trailer
Hello again, dear readers. We’re now firmly into October, the days are getting shorter, and Halloween is on the way. But there’s still some cool movies coming out this year, including the subject of today’s column. With that, let’s take a look at the latest (and final) trailer for the new James Bond movie, Spectre.
Premise: In the aftermath of the attack on MI6, a cryptic message sets in motion events that will see James Bond (Daniel Craig) come face-to-face with the sinister organization known as SPECTRE. While Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the newly appointed M, continues fighting political pressures that threaten the future of MI6, Bond discovers that the only way to unravel the web of conspiracy is to protect the innocent daughter of a powerful enemy. Following a trail from Mexico to Italy, Austria, and Morocco, he is forced to operate outside his purview as he is drawn into a confrontation with an enemy from his past.
My take: As I’ve written before in this column, I love the James Bond films. While there have certainly been some duds, the series has done a remarkable job of reinventing itself and staying relevant over its more than fifty years of existence. I’m been very excited for Spectre, the upcoming twenty-fourth entry in the franchise, because it’s finally bringing back the eponymous evil organization, which was such a staple of the Sean Connery era of Bond. This final trailer, although surprisingly short at a little over a minute long, does give us some new stuff to ponder.
0:04-0:05: Bond’s hand holding a ring with the SPECTRE octopus emblem. But the ring also appears to have bloodstains on it, which makes me wonder how Bond got the ring and who he took it from.
0:07-0:09: A single car drives along a desert road toward what a circular ridge of rock with what look like buildings topped with white domes inside the circle. Could this be a SPECTRE base of some kind?
0:10: This lovely lady is Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), who is described as “a psychologist working at a private medical clinic in the Austrian Alps, and the daughter of Mr. White.” Mr. White, for those who don’t remember, was a villain who appeared in Daniel Craig’s first two Bond films, Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). I believe this is the first time we’ve seen the child of a Bond villain, so that should make things interesting.
0:19-0:20: Very moody nighttime shot of a lone figure, presumably Bond, running across Westminster Bridge toward the nearby Palace of Westminster, which is obviously where the British Parliament meets. This makes me suspect that there’s some kind of threat against Parliament, and Bond is racing there to stop it. Having visited London myself earlier this year, I can say that this place does indeed look that cool in real life.
0:23-0:24: Shot of a memorial wall, possibly at MI6 headquarters, with the name “James Bond” written in red letters at the bottom of the list of names. Someone’s sending a very clear message to our man Bond.
0:27-0:29: A group of five people walking toward some industrial buildings topped with white domes, clearly the same place in the desert we saw earlier. Bond is standing second from the right in the group, so he must have been captured, and is getting a tour before they kill him, in traditional Bond villain fashion.
0:29-0:30: Our villain, Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), described as “a mysterious figure within SPECTRE who claims a personal connection to Bond.” A lot of people have wondered if Oberhauser might actually be Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the leader of SPECTRE in the Ian Fleming novels and older films. I’m not convinced that’s the case, but in this shot Oberhauser is wearing a suit jacket without lapels and a mandarin collar, which was Blofeld’s usual wardrobe in those early films.
0:31-0:33: Bond in an industrial corridor, firing his gun at a figure that looks a bit like Oberhauser, but the bullets are stopped by a sheet of bulletproof glass that Bond didn’t realize was between them. The fact that the figure doesn’t seem to react to the shots makes me wonder if it might be a mannequin of Oberhauser. Whatever’s going on here, I’m definitely interested to see more of this scene.
0:36-0:45: Big action moment, as Bond is on a rooftop and the façade of a building collapses toward him and he runs, but the façade’s impact causes the rooftop to fall apart, leaving Bond hanging by his fingertips as the ground gives way beneath him. We know there’s a scene where Bond is on a mission in Mexico City that goes bad, so I’m guessing that’s where this is from.
0:51-1:02: Big final action montage, with rapid cutting between shots from several different scenes. There’s Bond and Madeleine in some kind of open-topped vehicle with a huge dust cloud behind them. There’s Bond aiming a submachine gun with fire burning behind him. There’s an SUV and what looks like a military jeep racing through a snowy forest with an explosion going off right next to the jeep. There’s Bond trading punches with Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista), “an assassin and a high-ranking member of SPECTRE,” who we can assume will play the same kind of role as characters like Oddjob and Jaws from the old films. A car chase in the streets of London at night, heading toward what looks like St Paul’s Cathedral. A twin-engine propeller plane flying very low in a snowy forest, and getting its wings sheared off as it tries to go between two trees. Inside a parking garage, a luxury sedan gets T-boned by a black pickup truck. Finally, a helicopter flying over Mexico City, with Bond fighting the pilot inside, does a complete roll while airborne, and Bond delivers a kick to presumably knock the pilot out of the cockpit.
I’m a huge James Bond fan, so I’m always going to look forward to a new Bond film. Skyfall (2012) was a great film, and living up to it is a tall order. But so far, this looks like it could be another great outing for Daniel Craig as Agent 007. When it comes out at the beginning of November, I’ll definitely be checking out Spectre in theaters.
ANTICIPATION: I think we’re ready for your new mission, Agent 007.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennes, Andrew Scott, Rory Kinnear, Jesper Christensen, and Alessandro Cremona
Director: Sam Mendes
Writers: John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth, based on the character of James Bond created by Ian Fleming
Timothy Monforton
