Last weekend, the latest 007 film, Spectre starring Daniel Craig and directed by Sam Mendes, hit theaters nationwide. There was certainly a lot of buzz surrounding Spectre’s release and whether or not it would be able to top Skyfall, the last Bond outing, both financially and critically; however, Spectre is simply not as good as either Skyfall or the first Daniel Craig-led Bond film, Casino Royale. Before I dive into the negatives, though, I should point out that Spectre certainly has some upsides.  

First, the action sequences. This is the one aspect of Spectre that actually improved over the previous Bond movies. The set pieces are large and exciting, and the action is tense and electrifying – definitely an improvement over Skyfall’s more artsy take on the British secret agent. In addition, the cinematography is gorgeous: every shot looks absolutely wonderful. Finally, the villain Franz Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz. Although not as compelling as Javier Bardem’s Raoul Silva in Skyfall or Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, Franz as a villain and head of secret organization SPECTRE still provides an unsettling atmosphere to the film whenever he’s on screen. Unfortunately, that is as far as the positives go.

Some of the big negatives of Spectre include a fairly bland and generic screenplay. Sure, there is the whole mystery surrounding Bond’s past, but it simply isn’t compelling enough to warrant the audience’s attention for long. Another problem with the screenplay includes the fact that the movie seems to drag and slow down in parts for no reason other than “The audience needs to understand this foreshadowing” or “The audience needs to know about this important plot point and we can’t find any other way to fit it into the movie other than through clunky exposition.” See, it even drags down the tone and pace of the review. Fortunately, these slow parts of the movie do not drive down the pure entertainment factor.

In conclusion, Spectre is a well-acted and directed movie with a good villain and compelling action, but that can’t save the entire film from feeling slightly unfinished, clunky, and slow at parts. If you want to be entertained this holiday season, Spectre is the perfect film to see; however, if you are looking for a Bond film that rivals Skyfall, this is not it.

Final Grade: B