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I've been saying for years, Spectre would have been an immeasurably better film had the catering been up to par.
I'll try and come up with a lame pun for each villain.
:))
The film could've been even better with him playing the main villain throughout.
I had Noah at 25 and ranked also a Blofeld at the very bottom. But not SP...
That's a good point. I liked Colonel Moon as a villain.
CHRISTOPH WALTZ
as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
in SPECTRE
Waltz's Blofeld obtained one 5th spot, making him the lowest finish with a top 5 spot. There was also one 11th placement for the latest incarnation of Bond's arch nemesis.
That's about it though as far as the good news is concerned. SP's baddie ended up in twelve bottom 5's. Two of those were last places.
In total SP's Ernst Stavro Blofeld acquired 64 points.
He's just really grown on me over the years. He has a great presence at Sciarra's funeral, and I love his proper introduction in the board meeting. I like his practiced indifference and his labored casualness. The way he pretends Bond is a minor nuisance, and the way he unsuccessfully tries to goad him with his self-aggrandizing "author of all your pain" stuff. Bond doesn't bite of course, he's moved on here just as much as when he tossed the Vesper interrogation tape aside.
He has multiple lines of dialogue that are among my very favorites. What does C get out of the deal? "Nothing. He's a visionary, like me," I find hilarious in content and delivery. It's almost as if he barely understands the question. "I can't hear you James", as he tortures Bond while not wearing socks, trying so hard to act like it's not a big deal to him. Or my absolute favorite, "I've really put you through it, haven't I?", which is a hilarious meta understatement that makes me laugh out loud every time.
So he's a winner for me, though not quite my favorite Blofeld. I'm not put off by the foster brother thing. That's the character in the Craig era, it's fine. Just like how Joker killed Bruce's parents in Batman 89: it's a different take. And I think it works to give Blofeld a slight inferiority complex that he barely manages to hide, as well as give him and Bond an instant history, as the viewer expects Bond and Blofeld to have a past.
"Tying together four films" is always a silly criticism, given that two of the four are already tied together, and this is a very straightforward sequel to those two. Silva's a bit of a stretch perhaps, but that guy was using the internet to wreak havoc on governments, which doesn't sound out of step with Spectre's mission statement to me.
"Author of all your pain"? It's great. The film does not expect you to think he somehow forced Vesper to kill herself or whatever else. The fact is that Blofeld was ultimately behind the people that have hurt Bond, and he's playing up his role in an effort to be "the man inside [Bond's] head."
So yeah, I love this guy.
Waltz has depths of ability as an actor. Unfortunately I haven't seen him really put that ability to use outside of his collaborations with Tarantino (Zero Theorem, Spectre, Alita: Battle Angel). He does have the capacity to be a great Blofeld. Potentially the best even. Waltz expressed disappointment with his own portrayal in Spectre and chalked that up to a lack of shared vision between himself and Mendes. I have no idea what either wanted out of the character, but it doesn't sound like we got either one's vision on screen. Hopefully Waltz was more on the same page with Fukunaga.
That's my thinking, as well. If it's a solid, tense moment, that should be all it takes to make an impact.
Even though I have somewhat learned to like the film itself for what it is, Blofeld in SP remains a huge letdown.
I hope the film sits better with me as the years go on but I fear it won't be the case. I'm already at the point where I actively avoid rewatching it, aside from when I do my full Bondathons.
Funny you should say that.. I've ranked him (Gray) quite high as the best Blofeld, for pure entertainment factor alone.
He edges out Waltz as my favorite for the same reason.
I'm still optimistic that Waltz' Blofeld will be improved with NTTD.
Waltz is a fine actor. It took Tarantino less than ten minutes of film to establish that fact, and the rest of that film plus another film to repeatedly confirm that. But you have to know how to use him as an actor, how to put his strengths to good use and elicit a truly fabulous performance from him. Horrible Bosses 2, Alita: Battle Angel, and other Hollywood productions have used him "well" but not always memorably well.
I'd have guessed that Sam Mendes, who I've always known as an "actor's director", could have really taken Waltz very far on this adventure. Alas, I'm not sure he's managed to push Waltz beyond the level of pedestrian bad-guy-acting. The villain who's at all times maniacally calm and exceptionally polite because he knows he's second only to god is really nothing new anymore. Where's that extra spark? That extra dose of oomph? Especially after Bardem's delicious performance as Satan 2.0, Waltz feels a tad bland. And that's all the more disappointing because we know he can act. A little more Col. Landa could have paid off tremendously.
Obviously, it doesn't help that the writers failed to get this Blofeld right. And I mean Right. A Blofeld for modern times is not going to be another Pleasance or Savalas. I'm fine with a new model for the character, but make him special somehow. I'm happy we got Spectre back as an organisation. I'm extremely happy we got Blofeld back. I just wish the writers had demonstrated more ambition in getting the character Right, i.e. in showcasing the very reasons why Bond (and we) should fear him, why he deserves to be the architect of all of Bond's pains.
I too regret the brother thing, though it far from ruins the film for me, just to be clear. Oberhausen could have been a part of the plot, but why not as a separate character? At this point, the "your past has come back to haunt you" curse our heroes must battle, feels overcooked, overdone, overstaying its welcome. It was cool once, but we've seen it so often already. Vader is Luke's dad, and that was bloody awesome. But Joker having killed Bruce's parents? Many felt that was unfortunate, even in '89. And Blofeld being Bond's misplaced foster-brother resulted in more sighs in my theatre than gasps of horror.
What doesn't help any of this is the fact that Blofeld threatens to kill Bond, is already halfway there, and then Bond still breaks loose and seems to be doing fine. Blofeld's unceremonious downfall could have been spiced up just a little. And let's face it: "Cuckoo" is our new "Yo' Momma!", and it'll stay that way until the next epically cringy line comes around.
So all things considered, I don't hate Waltz' Blofeld, and he doesn't ruin the film for me. But they wanted to go dark and sinister, yet flirted with a moustache-twirling cartoon villain, and that's just too bad. Many issues people have cited as having with this film centre around Blofeld. A little polishing and perhaps a critical rewrite of some of his darker scenes could have done miracles. And this is a fan of SP speaking.
By the same token, I am looking forward to seeing Blofeld return in NTTD. They can still correct some of those mistakes, rinse off the acetic aftertaste the character left in our mouths. But I'm on pins and needles, to be honest. If neither Waltz or the writers impress, even if he's only in this film for two minutes, it will really hurt the character for good--no redemption possible.
I feel we can now savely move on to our next reveal, at number 24 we have:
JULIAN GLOVER
as Aristotle Kristatos
in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
Uncle Aris' best ranking were two 11th places. I also noted one 13th spot.
Even though he managed to stay away from the bottom 2 in every single ranking, he still ended up with 6 bottom 5's.
Four 22nd and four more 23rd placements eventually settled the score here.
In total Aris Kristatos received 74 points.