Bond 24

Earlier today it was revealed that Bond 24 would be titled ‘Spectre’, a name which refers to the organisation that Sean Connery’s Bond fought against in the 60s.

I can’t say I’m particularly enthused about the title. The whole one word title beginning with ‘s’ is too similar to Skyfall. The return of the Spectre organisation doesn’t fill me with much excitement either. I can see that they might have been brought back because of the extra publicity, and because it fits in with the last film’s reinvention of Moneypenny and Q, but Daniel Craig’s Bond already dealt with as secret organisation called Quantum. What will this organisation do that’s really any different?

 It’s not entirely clear yet whether Blofeld will appear or not, although it would seem odd to bring back the organisation and not the man behind it. Some people are saying that Christopher Waltz' character, 'Oberhauser', will actually be Blofeld. If this is the case then it'll be interesting to see if they keep the 60s iconography that’s been parodied for years. The Max Von Sydow version in Never Say Never Again wasn’t bald, but he kept the white cat at least

If they make him completely different then he might as well be a different character. There have been plenty of good, memorable Bond villains since the 60s, from Scaramanga to Raoul Da Silva, so what difference will having the name ‘Blofeld’ have?

On the bright side, Ralph Fiennes will be returning to play M, as will Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Wishaw as Q. It’ll be interesting to see what Malorie’s relationship with Bond will be like now that he is properly a superior. Hopefully Moneypenny will get some development and not stuck in the traditional secretary role. And at least Bond’s car is a new model. The Aston Martin DB10. Apparently it’s exclusive to James Bond. I’m not a car expert but it looks pretty nice.

The Daniel Craig Bond films have been the most consistently successful run since the Connery years. Even Quantum of Solace, which was wobbly in places, had good plot ideas in it. Here’s hoping that my reservations about this film are proved wrong, and that it will give Craig another winning outing.