'Spectre' breaks the Bond . . . mold

Hailey Loftin
Staff Writer

      The fourth movie in the Daniel Craig era of Bond series was unlike the previous ones that featured 007. It still had a Bond girl, plenty of action, and plenty of bad guys, but that was about where the similarities ended.
      Spectre follows Bond as he goes on a side mission given to him by the late M (Judi Dench) before her death. This movie shows 007 as even more of a bad boy than he already is as he goes off the map and disappears from his job to track down the mysterious villain who is the head of the Spectre organization. As he follows the trail around Europe, he discovers the leader is someone that he was very close to and knew growing up.

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      In many ways, the newest Bond installment was similar to the others. However, knowledge of past James Bond movies is crucial to understanding key parts of Spectre. The movie discusses characters all the way back to Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), Bond’s lover in Casino Royale.  Connections are drawn between people that were not there previously, and it was done in such a way that it seemed like an afterthought. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) is not the typical Bond girl, fending for herself and making her own decisions about her relationship with Bond throughout the movie.
​      Spectre was not the best of Craig’s Bond movies, but it is definitely worth seeing. The excitement through it does not stop, riveting the viewer for the full two and a half hours. Craig has not said whether or not he will return for a fifth Bond film although one more is in his contract. The film has not received the greatest ratings, getting only one and a half stars in the News and Observer. Movie critics are always harsh on films though; Bond fans will enjoy it.