Not Spec(tre)tacular

Rating: 7/10 (20 February 2016)

Most of the weaknesses that have been pointed out about the film are true, unfortunately. As a fan of 007, for the first time in a while I was bored during certain stretches with this Bond outing.
They did a better job promoting the film and creating anticipation than the actual final product. Fortunately it's not a bad film per se, but with the budget they had, the acting, a director with a reputation, the writers of the previous film and coming off the success of the 50th anniversary 007 movie in "Skyfall" this really should have been a lot better. To be fair, it can be difficult to always hit a home run in a 53 year old franchise, but this film doesn't even feel like most involved tried very hard.
Half the Craig movies have worked, this one falls somewhere in the middle and Quantum is a more forgotten effort. The film's plot is a bit thin and they make some stretches with some of their conclusions. One of the problems is that they have Bond investigating a secret organization that is not too secret to most fans of the franchise. Christoph Walz is underutilized as the villain and who his character is is somewhat predictable.
Also, 007 movies have usually worked operating on their own as stand alone movies. With the Craig pictures, they have tried weaving a story arc and connecting them all and I hope they go back to the stand alone forms.
Perhaps this is Craig's last outing. It seems hinted that it might be, but who knows it has recently been reported that the next one may be delayed to accommodate his schedule. I hope we get a better showing in Bond #25.