Spectre is a big misstep for Daniel Craig’s James Bond films. Most of the goodwill that has been built up over the past three films is squandered as the post-Cold War Bond goes from grounded to positively ridiculous. Sam Mendes also directed Skyfall and while that film had its issues, it was monumentally better than Spectre in nearly every way.
There’s zero chemistry between Craig and Bond-girl Léa Seydoux. Zero. And Craig goes from next-generation Bond to jokey, flamboyant Bond except Craig’s ultra serious persona makes none of it work. After a pretty strong opening sequence, things start dragging and as the film continues, the boredom only gets worse. Christoph Waltz is an okay bad guy. I guess he was probably born to be a Bond villain but he’s not doing anything new here and is ultimately forgettable. Beautiful actress Monica Bellucci is totally wasted with less than 10 minutes of useless screen time. Dave Bautista is an interesting henchman at first, but his schtick grows thin and after all the build up, his final line couldn’t be more disappointing.
It was fun to see M and Q given some things to do in the field which is nice for a change and actually, their adventures are some of the best parts of the film. Unfortunately, Moneypenny’s awesome set up in Skyfall is wasted as she is relegated to phone conversations and computer searches for Bond. The biggest sin this film commits though, is that it’s utterly boring. At least 45 minutes could be been cut without losing much of anything. Prepare for a lot of yawning and watch-checking in between the sparse plot developments and action scenes.
The ending gives a shred of hope for a final Craig film (he’s contracted for one more) that could right the ship but as it stands right now, Spectre is down at the bottom (alongside Quantum of Solace) as the worst Craig Bond film.