Big and unfocused--> One step forward, two steps back.

Rating: 5/10 (7 November 2015)

Remember Quantum of Solace? I don't. I saw it, but I don't remember what the movie was about. That's how I feel having just watched Spectre.
Casino Royale was great, until the very end. How many main villains were there, 3? Then comes Quantum of Solace. Skyfall was fantastic--a big but tight and focused story with a great villain. Now comes Spectre. It seems the Bond screenwriters bat .500.
From the very beginning, when there is a black screen saying "Day of the Dead", I thought something was wrong. Wasn't there a better way for the writers to show that it was Mexico during the Day of the Dead festival?
The film meanders from action sequence to action sequence without a clear purpose. Stuff happens, and Bond goes places, but I wasn't entirely sure why. In all, the film felt as rushed to me as some of the latest Marvel entries, like the date for the movie was put up without there first being a coherent script written. Get the story down, then put up the date for the sequel.
Because of that, some things just don't make sense:
Bond has a chance to finish off the tough bad guy played by Batista, after the plane versus Range Rover chase sequence, but he doesn't. He shoots the driver, but he doesn't pop a cap in Batista who is in the passenger seat.
Right after the fight on the train with Batista, Bond and the Bond girl have sex? Why? Personally, I would wonder how the bad guy tracked me down, but that's just me.
Why does Bond have to have a childhood relationship with Blofeld? That's so forced, so cheap.
You can't just say that all the bad guys the Daniel Craig Bond has faced were puppets of Blofeld and Spectre. You have to show it--show the connections. I didn't see Spectre rings on their fingers. You have to explain how Silva and the others became members.
The Austin Powers question pops up several times . You have Bond, captured, contained, and helpless. Why not just kill him, instead of playing games. Bond escapes again and again.
One thing this movie does well is usher in the transition to the new James Bond. In the end, we get basically a Daniel Craig riding off into the sunset scene, with the Bond Girl beside him. He made a choice not to kill, and the girl survived. They are together happily ever after. That's the feel of the scene. That's a perfect end for the Daniel Craig era of Bond.