Bond returns with licence to thrill

French actress Lea Seydoux, British actor Daniel Craig and Italian actress Monica Bellucci arrive for the world premiere of the new James Bond film ‘Spectre’ at the Royal Albert Hall in London yesterday. The film is directed by Sam Mendes and sees Daniel Craig play suave MI6 spy 007 for a fourth time.

AFP/LondonJames Bond has a licence to thrill once more in the new film Spectre, which premiered yesterday at a glittering event attended by members of Britain’s royal family.Prince William, his wife Kate and brother Prince Harry were among the guests who attended the opening night for the 24th outing of the Martini-quaffing spy. Broadly praised by critics, the film is directed by Sam Mendes and sees Daniel Craig play suave MI6 spy 007 for a fourth time. The film’s title is the acronym for the Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion—a shadowy organisation bent on world domination which last made an appearance in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. The organisation’s members include classic Bond villains Dr. No and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but the group disappeared from the films for decades due to a legal dispute that was only resolved two years ago. “One of the most exciting parts of this movie is that we’ve got the chance to use that organisation and all that that brings with it,” Craig told film website ScreenSlam. The Guardian and Telegraph newspapers gave Spectre a maximum five stars, the latter praising the film’s “swaggering show of confidence”.   However, the Financial Times gave it only two stars and said the film was attempting to alter the winning formula of 2012’s “Skyfall” while “clearly being thrown into panic at the thought”. Spectre was filmed in England, Italy, Austria, Mexico and Morocco and includes the usual Bond ingredients: high-speed chase scenes, a suave villain, sultry female leads, exciting gadgets and witty one-liners. “I came here to kill you,” Bond tells new bad guy Franz Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz. “And I thought you came here to die,” Oberhauser counters.   “Well, it’s all a matter of perspective,” Bond replies with a smirk.