You Cannot Hide!

The central plot revolves around the evil doers being in control of a system that is set up to share intelligence between countries. The members of Spectre are the ones actually in control of the data, presumably filtering the information that shared to manipulate what the intelligence agencies see.

Minor Annoyances

Since Bond has such a history, there are certain quintessential Bondisms.

1. Bond has impeccable style! Even while in the heat of battle, Bond does it with style. In this installment, there are several disappointing fashion foibles. [These are pretty obvious mistakes if an engineer is commenting on fashion.] In several scenes, Bond’s tie is short. It’s above the top of his pants at least eight centimeters (~3 inches). His tie bar is uneven on his collar. The arms on his suit jacket are far too short. In general, the suits appear ill fitted, as if he borrowed them from a slightly smaller friend. This just isn’t the type of details that Bond would miss.
2. Even when he’s not in a suit, he’s sort of frumpy.
3. Tongue and cheek humor missing. Bond always has a quick come-back.
4. The new Q is efficient, but not very quirky.
5. Not enough toys! The intrigue, secret spy skills, and the beyond belief toys are expected in any Bond movie. Not in Spectre!
6. Where do they get their clothes? A couple
7. How does Bond get the “borrowed” Q car to Rome? The man has a time line!

Q has a large role in this Bond installment. As head Geek, his involvement as part of the system that tracks everyone is duplicitous. Q’s first action is to inject Bond with a nanotechnology that enables MI7 to monitor his vital signs as well as precise world-wide location. [This isn’t the post to discuss the physics that would have to happen to make this possible nor the potential side effects of the required RF energy.]

It’s not the technology that is the question. Q injects Bond without explaining what’s going on or what the technology does. Q developed an invasive tech that robs an individual of privacy and then blindly follows orders to inject it into people. None of this even looks at whether others can also track the secret agent.

Later in the show, Q is the hacker responsible for stopping the massive data collection and sharing from coming on-line. This dichotomy of blindly developing an invasive technology that tracks people versus stopping similar tracking for the masses is somewhat confusing.

It’s not Bond without the Bond Babe. While Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) meets all the requisite attributes for Bond to take notice, there’s just not a lot of chemistry between the two. I think that she’s the daughter of Bond’s frenemy makes it seem more of a trans-generational relationship. Dr. Swann, who appears closer in age to an undergrad than a practicing doctor, isn’t believable as a psychiatrist. It’s not just the age, but the one scene where she’s acting as a doctor doesn’t ring true.

Madeleine seems to almost be qualified for secret agent duty. Apparently it is a by-product of her father’s profession as an assassin.