Spectre

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Spectre
Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes
Directed by Sam Mendes

The Story:
After causing an international incident in Mexico City, the 007 program is under close scrutiny by the Joint Intelligence Service, led by C (Andrew Scott).  He's got a vision for the future, a world that is under constant surveillance, and sees the 007 program as an archaic, outdated company.

While M (Ralph Fiennes) works to keep the program afloat, James Bond (Daniel Craig) goes on his own quest - to uncover the mysterious SPECTRE organization, which seems to have deep connections to Bond.  SPECTRE leader Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) has a personal vendetta against Bond, and a past that threatens to destroy him.  As Bond uncovers the truth, he learns that SPECTRE is something much more deadly than he previously imagined.

The Synopsis:
Daniel Craig has played Bond for four films now - "Casino Royale," "Quantum of Solace," "Skyfall" and now "Spectre."  Out of these four films, three of them were the longest Bond films ever, while "Quantum" was the shortest.  There's some interesting tidbits for you.

Back to "Spectre."  Sam Mendes (who directed the critically acclaimed "Skyfall") stated that "Spectre" is an homage to all previous Bond films, and includes Easter eggs from each film.  The only connection I found is that the SPECTRE program had a hand in all of Daniel Craig's previous Bond films, which was interesting, but it seemed too convoluted to make sense.

As to the film itself, it's the longest Bond film ever, and it seemed to be too big for its britches.  There seemed to be a lot of repetition and there was just something off about the whole project.  Maybe it's because it followed "Skyfall," which is hailed as the best Bond film ever.  Sam Mendes probably felt the heat to make "Spectre" as good as his previous film, but should've left at least thirty minutes more on the cutting room floor.

The story itself centers around Bond and his past, his mysterious connection to Blofield and the SPECTRE organization.  Not giving anything away, but it was a twist that you could see coming a mile away.  Whereas the story is paper thin, the action is as explosive as ever, but that's typical for a Bond film. 

Daniel Craig has been interviewed about doing another Bond film, and he's been known to have a very negative view about doing another one.  In "Spectre," he appears to be burnt out, his acting was droll and dry, and it was apparent that he didn't even want to do this film.  You can tell sometimes when actors phone in their work (see Mark Wahlberg in "Transformers: Age of Extinction" for example), and Daniel Craig seems to have done it here too, which turns off the viewer from even caring what is happening on the screen.

It's been four days since I've seen this film, and even I find it difficult to remember several aspects of the film.  That, for a Bond film, is very disappointing.

The Summary:
Even though it's been unfairly connected to "Skyfall," "Spectre" couldn't even stand on its own, and its bloated runtime served as the final nail on the coffin for this so-so Bond film.

The Score: B+

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