In hindsight my excitement for Spectre seems a bit foolish. After Skyfall, director Sam Mendes openly stated that he wouldn’t direct another Bond movie. And even so, Skyfall wasn’t the best of the new Bond films by any measure – dragging on for much too long. But somehow I got sucked into the hype of Mendes’ vision for an homage to the classic Bond, with that somewhat iconic poster of Craig mimicking Roger Moore, and trailers the emphasized a kind of retro re-visitation of some old villains and themes. But Spectre is none of those th... read the rest.

Well, cinema’s most treasured and resilient British spy guy is back as the legendary James Bond makes his twenty-fourth outing on the big screen in the highly anticipated and slickly-made Spectre. Worldwide Agent 007 fans understandably maintain their embedded expectations and vision as to what calculating and cunning mission their suave and sophisticated gun-toting, martini-sipping espionage thrill-seeker will encounter in his latest globe-trotting episode. Whatever Bond enthusiasts have in mind for the future twenty-fifth entry of the “licensed to kill” Lothario they should simply settle for... read the rest.

Not your usual Bond movie, but still a good entertainer.

What I liked from a couple of last Bond movies was they were off the regular 007 style, like not overly rely on spy's special gadgets. This change has been since the day one of Daniel Craig as a famous British spy, James Bond. Anyway, he's the most fittest (muscular) Bond I've ever seen and he's celebrating 10 year anniversary with this film release. But the question is whether he to do another film or done with the franchise. The doubt after the confusing end of this film.

The end was quite clear on the story perspective, so I ki... read the rest.

A "correct" Bond movie. All the expected stereotypes are included, Waltz is an OK bad guy and the intro scene is something really impressive.

Nothing else really new ...

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/spectre-spoiler-free-review

"Spectre fails to reach the tremendous potential of its intriguing narrative and fascinating antagonist, but Sam Mendes still pulls off a decent James Bond flick.

The screenplay raises significant issues with an incredibly dull subplot that deeply affects the pacing of a bloated runtime. In addition to this, Christoph Waltz's lack of impactful screentime is disappointing, to say the least, despite a brilliant performance from the actor.

Fortunately, the jaw-dropping action set pieces elevate... read the rest.

Now that Dame Judi has shaken her off her cinematic mortal coil, the new "M" (Ralph Fiennes) is facing increasing pressure from whizzkid "C" (Andrew Scott) to shut down the 007 programme and rely on an international, computer generated, system of intelligence gathering. Needless to say, "007" (Daniel Craig) has his doubts about this and after a manhunt to Rome (via Mexico) that must have cost billions, he alights on an exclusive gathering of the criminal great and good working for the eponymous organisation. Along the way, he manages to enlist "Q" (Ben Whishaw) and "Moneypenny" (Naomie Harris)... read the rest.

The word "convoluted" comes to mind, as does the word "unwatchable"

By the time Spectre came out, I was honestly sick of Daniel Craig's James Bond hates being James Bond depiction. And now I've come to really despise him, I mean Moore used to be my least favorite Bond, and I like him so much more than Craig.

But... the script was kind of all over the place. I think they were trying to do twists and turns, but they were stuck under steering with each turn, so all the twists they tried to throw at you never really worked. It ended up feeling like they were trying to be confusing for the sak... read the rest.

Spectre has plenty of style, class, action, and spectacular moments but the film lacks the passion and zeal of Casino Royale or Skyfall.

After the incredible bombastic success of Skyfall, the return of Sam Mendes, and the announcement of Christoph Waltz as the villain, expectations skyrocketed to ridiculous heights. Unfortunately, these expectations climbed too high for Spectre to meet. While the story did a decent job of trying to tie all the Craig Bond films together and introduce a new supreme criminal mastermind, it didn't fully satisfy or carry the weight it intended. There were som... read the rest.

Spectre has an introspect into what is wrong with modern Bond movies. Namely, that they don't work, because 007 is about action, exotic sceneries, cinematic brilliance, beautiful women, gadgets that go wrong or right, and most of all the wit and charm and atmosphere. I'm not sure when the forma should have changed from exciting to dull, probably around 1995, but it changed before that year. And it should have changed in a productive and interesting way. Instead, it changed to just total dullness with not one good aspect. The motivation of characters other than 007 is total zero in credibil... read the rest.