James Bond returns to the silver screen for his 24th installment of the popular franchise. In “Spectre”, a cryptic message from Bond’s (Daniel Craig) past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M (Ralph Fiennes) battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre and his own mysterious past. “Spectre” offers an acceptable enough Bond offering based on it’s entertaining fight scenes and cinematography reminiscent of such a beautifully dark film. Bond is never one to shy away from obvious symbolism on-screen, and this film has lots of it. But it’s rehashing of scenes in the previous three Bond films, as well as a script that seems totally out of touch with it’s characters, makes this one of the easier forgotten films during the Daniel Craig era.

The movie starts off with a glorious bang, during an intro that really sets the tempo for the heart pounding action scenes that we have come to know and love. Immediatly, we are graced with tones of the new Bond song by Sam Smith, titled “Writing’s On The Wall”. I think the theme is perfect for the kind of tortured soul of an agent who has had to live in the shadows. This track accompanies those famous Bond credit scenes famous for this series. Pay close attention to the symbolism with not only this film, but with the previous three films and how they are tied together. Lets talk about the movie’s first act, because it’s got such a rhythmic way of grabbing the audience and getting them intrigued to the mystery of this group and the kinds of impact that they have had on James life. Unfortunately, it’s in the second act of the movie where the film really takes a big drop-off. Over the film’s nearly two and a half hour run time, the movie feels it’s age the most during this time. There are several dialogue scenes that spread out the glorious action that got us to this point. I’m not saying that everything has to be a fight or chase scene, but it’s during this point in the movie where our main characters are just geographically jumping from one location to the other. During the third act, the movie kind of wraps everything up with twenty minutes remaining, so you know something else is right around the corner. The sets from “Quantum of Solace” return to make another appearance, as well as some of the visuals from the traps set by Waltz’s character coming from “Casino Royale” and “Skyfall”. This will seem like a cool idea to some, to come full circle for everything James has been through, but it doesn’t offer a loud enough voice for the future reputation of this film.

My biggest problem with Bond involves a script that feels like it doesn’t know how to use such valuable pieces to this screenplay. Christoph Waltz is always charasmatic when it comes to playing a creep, but he doesn’t receive enough screen time here to come off as a threatening villain, or one with a believable enough past with James to convince the audience of it’s importance. A lot of this has to do with the fact that his organization is a secret, so Waltz must stay in the shadows, but it doesn’t make for the most compelling of villains due to such a handicap. When those confrontational scenes do happen, they are over so fast that it almost doesn’t feel worth the wait. It’s in this aspect of the film in particular where “Spectre” is a big step backwards from “Skyfall”, which saw Bond at some of his most vulnerable moments physically in the series. Moneypenny (Played by Naomie Harris) is perhaps the biggest shame of the film. Her performance is solid enough. She serves as Bond’s kind of best friend and one he can confide to. What my problem with her role in this movie, is she is essentially made pointless. Moneypenny was such a valuable character to Bond in “Skyfall”. She was an equal partner who not only had the sex appeal of a Bond girl, but had the fighting skills of a leading woman. In this film, she is reduced to nothing more than a secretary. Perhaps the movie does this because there isn’t really much of a challenge physically for Bond, other than Dave Batista, who was outstanding as the quiet storm of a henchman, as Mr. Hinx. He’s minimal in dialogue, and lets his actions do his talking.

Fortunately, it’s not all a mess, as director Sam Mendes does get a lot right on the technical aspect of this film. Mendes still makes the most gorgeous of Bond films, using subtle lighting to convey the right kind of mood in the atmosphere of all of his confrontations. Many of the people in this mysterious group, are hidden behind a dark shadow, and this goes a long way to protect the identities of the group. I also love the symbolism of the lighting in the film getting brighter as James uncovers more and more about his past. During the first act, a scene with Moneypenny in Bond’s home, makes it very tough to see his surroundings. This serves as a beautiful metaphor for the shadows that Bond has yet to uncover. This is made more clear in the big showdown scene that takes place in a sun soaked desert. The shadows are gone, and Bond has brought them all to light. I want to talk a little bit about the action and fight choreography as well, because it is truly a work of art. From speedboat chases, to fights in a helicopter flying over a crowd of people at festival celebrating the dead (Ironically), to a train fight that is the very best i have seen this year. This movie has it all. On the latter, Craig and Batista beat the hell out of each other throughout multiple train carts, and it’s glorious. The sound editing is crisp, the violence is brutal, and the editing is patient. It’s all presented in such an artistic manor, and it’s clear that Mendes keeps getting better behind the lens. This is a man who clearly has a love for Bond, so he knows when to cut and when to shoot, something that “Quantum of Solace” was severely aching on. “Spectre” doesn’t have this problem, and i am glad Mendes came back, because without his technical aspect, this film would be the biggest Bond failure since “Die Another Day”.

There is also a side plot in the film about surveillance on citizens, with some of the positives and negatives that come from such a service. I think this is the perfect time for a film with this kind of premise, and i don’t see it as being dated in ten or twenty years, because drone technology continues to be one of the biggest controversial issues talked about in defense branch strategies. Mendes uses surveillance as kind of a villain by itself, while playing with our own fears on such a taboo subject.

Overall, “Spectre” is a decent, but not memorable effort, as Craig’s swan song to the series. Coming off of “Skyfall”, Mendes was fighting an uphill battle, and this is a film that disappointingly doesn’t always reach it’s peak. Still, if you are a big Bond fan like i am, there are enough Bond tropes here to enjoy a fun sit that offers enough to make your experience a worthwhile one. If the movie was a little tighter, and eliminated some of it’s character flaws, the movie would prosper more in that upper level of Bond films. As it stands, “Spectre” relies on it’s audience to be treated like it’s main character prefers his drinks; shaken not stirred.

6/10