Movies: In "Spectre" Bond and Company Evolve, in intriguing Ways

Unless you're on a high wire across the Grand Canyon, a misstep need not be a disaster. Considering the flood of negative and even "iffy" press that greeted the newest Bond film, "Spectre" one might have thought the franchise was going down in flames, like mythical Icarus.

No such thing.

Under the capable and stylish hand of Sam Mendes, 'Spectre" shows the franchise as flourishing if not always firing on full cylinders, and still great to watch.

This time, the new M (Ralph Fiennes, really getting into it) finds himself battling a cocky new colleague Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) who wishes to abolish the 00-programme in favour of a vast new multi-national computer-snooper programme. The code name of this awful new stuffed shirt is C – and Bond does not scruple to make crude innuendo on that score.

Also "getting into it" is Ben Whishaw, whose Q is miles removed from the mere gadget-handing human prop of past Bond films into a kind of film model for Edward Snowden. His repartee with Bond and his won quick asides almost make the film on their own. 

James Bond is cutting loose from duplicitous, bureaucratic authority - in the time-honoured fashion – and plans to track down a certain sinister Austrian kingpin at the heart of something called Spectre, played with gusto by Christoph Waltz. This is the evil organisation whose tentacular reach and extensive personnel may in fact have accounted for all Bond’s woes in Craig’s previous three movies.

Craig as Bond is as unrelenting as ever, both physically and mentally,  dismissing his superiors and taking advantage of his peers, as well as anyone else that can assist him, to make sure that he can get to his man and save the world. Is he getting the former to preserve his ego? Or saving the latter, because it’s the right thing to do? It’s murky, which makes Spectre that extra bit intriguing. 

He does all this while still teasing an emotional depth and fatigue that makes his incarnation glisten with a relatability that sets him apart from previous versions. It’s almost as if John Wayne and Don Draper have merged together, put on a suave suit, and decided to save the world.

If, as is heavily rumoured, he gives up the tux and martinis (and Aston Martin) after this go-round, he can be forgiven, and should still be praised for having modernized the franchise and given the icon a much-needed edge.

While not as satisfying allround as its predecessor, "SkyFall", this latest Bond shows that the character still has all his trademark elements intact - ladies' man, killer, survivor, wit and human being. Here's hoping Daniel Craig will stick around for at least one more.

Contents Under Pressure: Skyfall

"You know the whole story"

So says Bond to his mentor/taskmistress M in the climactic stages of this, one of the best in the half-century Bond franchise. It's success lies primarily in credibly showing 007 rising above pressures, both external and internal, rather than cruising coolly through assignments as may have been the case with previous Bond movies (before the Daniel Craig era).

He starts out gasping for air, having been shot by his own fellow operative, with none other than M having given the order. But hold fast, dear Bond fans, things are not quite what they seem. A vengeful rogue agent has taken it upon himself to disparage MI-6 by revealing and eliminating agents in place all over the world, particularly in China and Macau, where much of the action takes place.

We're also introduced to a new headquarters and a new Q, the technology and gadgets expert, only this time he's a mere whelp, with the requisite cynicism and dismissal for the old ways to boot. His "war chest" for Bond this time out consists of a mere miniature radio transmitter and a fingerprint-coded grip on Bond's trusted Walther PK-38 auto pistol.

Of course, this "quasi-reboot" doesn't mean a sweep of the former Bond DNA. There are still high-speed chases (the opener takes place in Istanbul's Grand Market, of all places), there's still the sharp repartee with M, there's still time to make out with gorgeous women in exotic locales (this time on board a sailing yacht), while enjoying his signature shaken-not-stirred martini (which shares screen time with global ad partner Heineken beer) and reflect on his overall usefulness and commitment to Her Majesty's Secret Service.

And, of course, there are still villains. And the Bond rogue's gallery gets a considerable upgrade with the addition of Javier Bardem as the rogue. Slick, sardonic, sinister and charming all at once, Bardem is never better than when he recounts the perceived "injustice" that took him out of the Service and kindled his ire against his old employer.

The denouement takes us to a remote Scottish country estate, whose name informs the title of the film: Skyfall. There, the movie lagely devolves into the standard Hollywood-type climax, with much gunfire and explosions. But before film's end we're introduced to Moneypenny (Jamaican Naomi Harris) and to another character - that person's identity we'll keep to ourselves.
Its still a secret service after all.

Alpha-Male 007 continues with Omega

Over the years, Bond has become a style icon, what with his preference for fine suits by Brioni and Tom Ford, shoes by Church and Sunspel polo shirts. Bond also has exceptional taste in watches.

In the novels by Ian Fleming, James Bond wore a Rolex Explorer. But, as you probably know, he never wore one in the films. Instead, he wore a Submariner in the '60s and '70s, followed by a bunch of digital Seiko watches in the late '70s and early '80s, and then returned to Rolex again in the late 1980s.

But since 1995, Bond has been choosing to wear Omega. Or Omega is choosing James Bond -- we don't know. We do know that James Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan at the time, was suddenly wearing this cool blue Seamaster Professional (ref. 2541.80) watch in GoldenEye. This first Omega watch was a quartz Seamaster 300M with a laser beam that came in handy for our favorite secret agent.

In the follow-up movies, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day, Bond wears the automatic chronometer version of the Seamaster Professional 300M watch, the ref. 2531.80. Although out of production, it is still a very popular watch in the pre-owned watch market. People still refer to it as "the James Bond watch."

When Daniel Craig became the new James Bond in the Casino Royale flick, Omega decided to take the opportunity to cross over from the Seamaster Professional 300M collection to its then-new Seamaster Planet Ocean collection. The Seamaster Professional 300M (ref. 2220.80) in Casino Royale is very similar to the one used by Craig's predecessor, Pierce Brosnan, but is now equipped with George Daniels' coaxial escapement invention. Omega has been making sure almost all of its mechanical watches (with the exception of the Moonwatch) are equipped with the coaxial movement, and so was the Seamaster Professional 300M "Bond" model.



In the same movie, Daniel Craig starts wearing the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean (ref. 2900.50.91) watch, a large (45.5-mm) sports watch on a rubber strap. At some point in Casino Royale, something happens that even watch fans found too much. When Bond and Vesper Lynd are traveling by train, Lynd looks at Bond's wrists and asks "Rolex?" "Omega" replies Bond, and that was that.

In Daniel Craig's appearance as Bond in Quantum of Solace, he's wearing another Seamaster Planet Ocean. This time, it is the more downsized ref. 2201.50.00, a 42-mm version of the Seamaster Planet Ocean on a stainless steel bracelet. Quantum of Solace is the end of Bond wearing the Seamaster Professional 300M watch, something that some Omega Seamaster fans will certainly regret.

In Skyfall, Bond will at least wear another Seamaster Planet Ocean again. That's for sure. Omega commemorates the Bond movies often with a limited-edition version of the watch used in the movies. For Skyfall, Omega introduced a limited series of its Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M. Only 5007 pieces (it's the 50th year of 007) will be produced worldwide.



This Seamaster Planet Ocean "Skyfall'"600M will come with Omega's latest in-house developed coaxial movement, caliber 8507 with a special "Skyfall 007" engraving on its rotor. Since this watch is also equipped with the "Si14" silicon balance spring, Omega offers a four-year warranty on these watches. The Seamaster Planet Ocean "Skyfall" comes with a special presentation box.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bond, Omega also introduced a special Seamaster Professional 300M earlier this year (during BaselWorld). A black version of the famous blue Seamaster Professional 300M that has a black lacquered dial with a 007 monogram and a super-cool gun-barrel design on the caseback.