[Review] Spectre

If you've lost count, Spectre cruises in as the 24th Bond film and the fourth of the Daniel Craig as 007 era. It's an installment that has its moments, but it ultimately amounts to a big disappointment following its stellar predecessor Skyfall.

Spectre propels a pretty familiar plot--familiar not only within the Bond universe, but also with a lot of things that have graced the big screen lately. Agent 007 embarks on a mission to infiltrate a dark and powerful criminal organization (Spectre) with links to his past.

This is one of those films that begins with an engrossing action sequence (here, it's Bond chasing down a guy through a lively Dia de los Muertos festival in Ciudad de Mexico and winding up in a helicopter scuffle) only to consequently peak early, as the subsequent events don't quite match the thrill on either spectacle or narrative levels until toward the very end. It's not that the midsection is insufferable or anything, but it definitely lacks momentum and feels more deliberate than it needs to be. The story fails to take hold (which is kind of important), and there just isn't as much panache as you'd hope for in a Bond film from 2015. Along the way, I found myself wishing I were watching this year's The Man from U.N.C.L.E. again instead.

Frequent standout and Oscar occupier Christoph Waltz is the villain in Spectre, and unfortunately he's severely underutilized. It's a sort of bland role that only shows up for a sliver of the 150-minute runtime, and it doesn't hold a candle to the off-kilter scene-stealer Javier Bardem in Skyfall.

Spectre doesn't possess the standalone qualities of past Bond films, and there's a questionable twist revealed later on. Yes, Sam Mendes stages the scenes nicely, and the cinematography looks very good, but the film is just too hollow of an experience to fully embrace.

6/10