Standard Issue Bond (Not Always a Bad Thing)

Rating: 7/10 (13 November 2015)

I've been a 007 fan ever since I was young playing GoldenEye on my Nintendo 64, from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig the Bond franchise has been apart of my movie watching experience. So naturally when Spectre was announced I was ecstatic! Daniel Craig has more than earned my respect as James Bond with Casino Royale and Skyfall and when the rest of the cast was announced my excitement only rose higher.
My greatest worry was having the movie become too hyped up because of the success of Skyfall. Not only the hype but I was worried about how Sam Mendes would be able to follow up such a Bond film like Skyfall. I appreciated how Skyfall was able to dive underneath the character of James Bond stripping him down to his most vulnerable he has ever been on screen. I wished that Spectre would continue such a pattern. Alas I was disappointed to see the opposite, instead all we were given a standard Bond film with decent action and story.
While the film was entertaining, Spectre did not innovate much in terms of a James Bond film. Spectre didn't excite me in the way that past Daniel Craig Bond films have. But, that's not to say the film didn't have its bright spots. Christoph Waltz and Dave Bautista make excellent Bond villains. Waltz have proved before that he is capable of playing a villain with a balance of evil and charm. He was able to bring a cold and cunningness to his Bond villain, if only he had more screen time. Bautista also played an excellent big tough guy henchman, along the lines of Jaws from the classic age of Bond. The film was also able to pay small tributes to other Bond films through little Easter eggs for real fans to find. Spectre did also do a solid job of connecting to past Daniel Craig Bond films, but just glazing over Quantum of Solace since I'm sure they'd like to forget about that.
With some confusing plot points, decent action and a lack of innovation Spectre turned out to be a basic Bond film that was still able to be entertaining. Although I wished for a better follow up to Skyfall, Spectre can still able to keep one interested and entertained until the end. Will it go down in history as one of the best Bond films? Probably not, but it's still worth a watch for any fan of the series.