That's not to say that Spectre doesn't have its good qualities. Daniel Craig is once again impeccable in his gritty portrayal of the world famous gentleman spy. While he doesn't get to show his emotional range as much as he did in his previous entries to the franchise (namely Quantum of Solace and Skyfall) he continues to hold himself with a combination of class and ruggedness that is absolutely perfect for a 21st century bond. Christoph Waltz is perfectly cast as the movie's main villain, Franz Oberhauser. While it does feel at times as though he is coasting through the film a bit, Waltz's acting ability is so strong (as demonstrated in Django Unchained and Inglorious Basterds) that his performance is still one of the strongest in the movie. He should have been the perfect foil to Craig's 007, oozing equal measures of class and charisma, however he is wasted in the role by reasons that will be discussed later on. Ralph Fiennes does a good job as the new "M" (though the subplot involving him, Q, Moneypenny and the brazenly christened "C" was rather boring and unnecessary) while Lea Seadoux and Dave Bautista both put in decent performances as the traditional "Bond Girl" and old school villainous henchman respectively, even though I do feel that Bautista's "Mr Hinx" could have been given more screen-time. The only real casting problem was the inclusion of Monica Bellucci as the widow of a recently deceased member of the Spectre organisation. Bellucci doesn't feature in the film all that long, and her sole purpose for being included seems to be to fill five minutes with an unneeded sex scene, despite being heavily featured in the film's promotion. The littering of the Bond movies with too many one off and one note sex objects is a major problem with the franchise as a whole, and it is becoming more monotonous and needless with every passing film. Her character was weak and forgettable, and while this is more than likely down to bad writing, the actress did herself no favours with a very one-note stereotypical performance.
Visually, Spectre is a beautifully shot movie, from the film's beginning in dusty, hot Mexico to the beauty and serenity of the Austrian mountains. From a cinematography perspective, it is one of the most "easy on the eye" Bond movies ever made. The action is also impeccable, with every fight scene choreographed beautifully, while an abundance of perfectly created chase sequences that would give the "Fast and the Furious" franchise a run for its money are also included. The opening scene is the film's strongest, with the long, continuous tracking shot, which gets the film off to an amazing start, being a cinematic achievement in itself. Stylistically, Spectre is very strong indeed.
In saying this, the way Spectre is plotted prevents the viewer from truly engaging with it as a story and subsequently lessens the impact of the elements the film does get right. What has made Craig's previous turnouts as 007 work is the emotion that's been at the heart of the story. "Casino Royale" dealt with the dangers of him falling in love, while "Quantum" followed this up by exploring the repercussions of his heart being broken. "Skyfall", perhaps the most emotionally engaging of all Craig's films, dealt with Bond's intense loyalty and respect for his boss, Judi Dench's M, which was counterbalanced by Silva's hatred towards the former Head of MI6. With Spectre, the emotional centre is missing, and that is the most frustrating part of the movie as the potential was there to make this the most emotionally charged film of the lot. The issue is that it seems that the filmmakers expected most viewers of the movie to have seen not only the previous Daniel Craig movies, but also the entire Bond back catalogue as well. While continuity is good, the Bond movies should be able to stand on there own without relying too heavily on previous instalments (a problem that was also glaringly obvious in Quantum of Solace). Fan service is all well and good, but it shouldn't come at the detriment of the casual viewers movie watching experience. In this case it did, leaving Spectre feeling like a movie without an emotional core.
However, this was not the only problem I had with the film from a storytelling perspective. Without venturing too far into the realm of spoilers, Christoph Waltz' main villain has a very rich back story that is never really explored and analysed by the filmmakers as much as it should be. The background of the character is extremely dark and very closely linked to Bond, however we never really get the impression as a viewer that this battle is intensely personal for the spy. This is extremely frustrating. The plot point that Oberhauser and Spectre were the puppet-masters behind all of James Bond's previous missions, and therefore his heartaches, never seems to strike the emotional chord that it should. You don't come out the theatre thinking that Bond has just fought his greatest adversary yet. Now, while this can't be put down to Waltz' performance, it could possibly be put down to lacklustre writing which really doesn't give Bond and Oberhauser the character development which could have made this an all time classic. The filmmakers had the putty in their hands to create the most intriguing Bond villain of all time and, in my opinion, they completely squandered that opportunity.
All in all, Spectre is a very frustrating film. It had all the tools to be one of the best Bond films in recent memory and expand on the success of Skyfall. And in some ways it does. The cinematography is fantastic and the action sequences are choreographed beautifully. However, the plot is weak, which is a shame as the characters involved had the potential to be some of the most interesting and complex the franchise had seen. Hopefully Daniel Craig stays on for one more outing as the iconic spy, as he deserved to go out on a stronger showing than this. Spectre had all the elements that could have made it the best film of 2015, however weak character development and inconsistent plotting make this entry into the 007 series fall short of the mark. Overall, Spectre is a decent action movie with stunning visual effects but, with the finances it had available, the legacy it had to live up to and the talent it had at its disposal, it should have been so much more.
Score: 6.6/10
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