The opening sequence in Mexico City is one of the most exciting and visually striking you will ever see, with a glorious long, uninterrupted take without edits that shows James Bond prowling among the masked people in the Day of the Dead parade, entering a hotel lobby with his girlfriend, taking the lift to another floor, entering his room, leaving the room (and the girl) and walking along the top edge of the building to assassinate a terrorist. This flows into a scene with collapsing buildings and a dizzying helicopter fight. And all this before the titles sequence.
As in Skyfall, which this is nearly the equal of, there’s dry humour and the character has been refined to a perfect crystalisation of what Bond is about. Daniel Craig – in his fourth appearance in the role – absolutely nails it.
It’s visually stunning and the pacing is expertly handled. The villain (Christoph Waltz as Blofeld) is convincingly creepy and the Bond girl (Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann) is refreshingly unimpressed by 007 – for a while, anyway, until she inevitably falls for him.
Aside from Bond’s invincibility, the only thing that doesn’t ring true is the big meeting of SPECTRE agents. Would such a top-secret organisation really put all of its members in one room?
Really looking forward to the follow-up.
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