Spectre movie review - James Bond - November 2015

All Bond movies start with a bang and Spectre does it as well as any, with the spectacular set piece located bang in the middle of the Mexican Carnivale. Bond does what he does best and the scene with the helicopter is worth the price of admission (even if one has to check your brain in at the door!).

Bond movies have a huge burden of each new one having to top the earlier one and Spectre has its work cut out for it, comes as it does after the remarkable Skyfall. Given this, it is inevitable that Spectre will pale in comparison, however if one looks at it as a standalone movie then it is almost as good as any other Bond movie.

Bond as played by Daniel Craig, has been characterized more as a working man's Bond, more physical, less prone to flirting and banter and displaying a ruthlessness which would do any Bond villain proud. In his fourth outing, Daniel Craig seems to be a little weary of the burden of being Bond and may be looking forward to pass on the baton to the next one in line (though there are already talks of a fifth Craig movie in the pipeline).

The last movie introduced the new M (Ralph Fiennes) and while Fiennes may be enjoying himself, he can't hold a candle to Dame Judi Dench, who made the character her own and left a stamp which is comparable to Sean Connery's Bond. Ben Whishaw as Q has a more active role in Spectre and it does brighten the movie a bit. In a nod to some of the action being filmed in Rome, one of the leading ladies is Monica Belluci (short-lived as any Bond heroine) and the other is Lea Seydoux, who has a much larger role.

The main villain is played by Christoph Waltz (Blofeld), who in my view is completely wasted. Waltz is better known for his unforgettable roles in Django Unchained as well as Inglorious Basterds. Here, in the best tradition of Bond villains, he tries to kill Bond in an overly elaborate way (why do villains never learn from the movies!). This sequence is characteristic of the weak plot which is the actual downfall of the movie.

We also have M's new boss, C (played by Max Denbigh). Denbigh is better known as Moriarty from the new BBC Sherlock series and here too, he is smug to a fault. He plays C as an extension of Moriarty, which is ok but for someone who has watched him in the TV series, it seems a reprise.

The hallmark of any Bond movie are the cameos played by his gadgets and in Spectre, there is the car, an Aston Martin no less and which looks good enough to eat. Sadly it has only a very brief role in the movie, the other gadget is just a get-out-of-jail-free card, and as artificial a plot device as you can encounter in a movie.

Thus, we have Spectre, a Bond movie in which all the ingredients are present and accounted for, but the cooking is a little off and the recipe (plot) is the weakest link.

Methinks it is time for Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes to move on. Together they did a great job of rebooting the franchise and allowed Bond to compete in the era of blockbuster summer movies, but both seem to have run their course.

No Bond fan will miss watching Spectre, however for someone who is not into Bond, the movie could easily be mistaken as a Bourne Identity Part x movie. This in my view is the biggest indictment the movie can suffer.

I would rate it as watchable, but only to tick a box and not as a Bond experience.

Katyar Kaljat Ghusli (Marathi movie review - Nov 2015)

Just got home after watching the movie (English translation - Heart cleaved by dagger, pardon my translation skills, if you have a better and crisper title, do comment!), and I must say that I exited the cinema fairly happy. For non-Marathi speakers, the movie conveniently has English sub-titles, and while the translation is not exactly high quality (in many later sequences, Raj Gayak is translated as Royal Poet instead of Royal Singer - which is actually a different person), it is quite serviceable.

The movie is about the rivalry (one-sided) between the reigning Royal Singer (Pandit Bhanushankar played by Shankar Mahadevan) and Khan Saheb (played by Sachin). For a Marathi movie, the production quality is quite good and the sets and costumes don't look as if any expense has been spared. One definitely needs to watch it in a cinema with good quality audio as otherwise the main USP of the movie would be lost.

Coming to the actual movie, the acting is sort of average, Shankar Mahadevan has a couple of good moments and Subodh Bhave (Sadashiv) is earnest but some sparks are provided by Uma (Mrunmayee Deshpande) and Zareena (Amruta Khanvilkar). As for Sachin (Khan Saheb), the man is a natural overactor and hams it to the gallery all through. That is the one jarring note in the acting department which otherwise is quite competent.

As for the singing, there are two ways of looking at it, either standalone, where one watches the movie without having heard the songs earlier (particulary by the original singers, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki and Vasantrao Deshpande) or where one is reminded of the originals. Again, there are two more ways of looking at it, when watching, you can forget what is heard in the theatre and in your mind hear the originals, or else hear what is being played. If one tries to compare, the songs are good but connoiseurs will always go back to the originals. Those who are likely to enjoy the songs the most are probably those who haven't heard them before or who have not seen the play (in its various avatars).

The movie does mess with the plot and there is a gratuitous Britisher added, which is completely unnecessary. Khan Saheb is also painted much darker than the play, but these can be excused as creative liberties.

Now, coming to the singing, imho, Shankar Mahadevan should have sung for Khan Saheb and Rahul Deshpande for Panditji, to my untrained ear, Shankar Mahadevan's voice does not have a truly classical feel and which might have suited the histrionics of Khan Saheb whereas Rahul Deshpande is a trained classical singer who might have done better justice to the more purist Panditji. But I suspect the decision was primarily influenced by the fact that Rahul Deshpande has played and sung Khan Saheb's part in the play and it might have seemed more logical to stick to it.

The only reason to watch the movie multiple times would be the songs, but then again, if you like them so much, you are better off finding audio recordings of the originals! A word to those who don't understand what a sangeet natak (musical play) is, a significant part of the movie is devoted to songs and if you don't like it then this movie may not be for you.

Nostalgia plays a large role in the audience who would go for such a movie and in the case of my screening, the average age in the hall was quite likely well north of 45+ (in which I fit quite nicely, thank you!). I think the movie is well worth watching for anyone who speaks Marathi and who has at least some ear for classical music but it is likely to appeal to a larger non-Marathi speaking audience (however those who fall in the same age demographic!).

I won't give stars to the movie, however I would strongly recommend giving it a look-see, it is well worth your time.