Average at best.

Rating: 5/10 (27 October 2015)

This is not a great Bond film despite the praise being heaped upon it by the critics. It is an okay Bond film with some nice nods towards other scenes in the franchise for the die-hard Bond fan; such as the time Bond jumped up and grabbed a rail above him to double kick the bad guy... In Moore's adaptation it was a great move... In this one.... Well, doesn't quite work as Bond had hoped but it really is a blink and you will miss it shot.
There are some good one-liners in the film from various characters - and not in the cheesy Pearce Brosnan kind of way - and Q really does steal every scene he is in.
The plot is more of a 'haven't we seen this before' kind of thing which I won't go into because it would risk spoiling things you see at the start of the film but... Yeah... Been here, seen this and - in fact - in other Bond films!!!
Christoph Waltz is brilliant for the time we get to see him but he is hardly in the film and the secrets about his character (not allowed to talk about it in chat shows etc) have been so badly hidden it is painfully obvious from the get-go which is also frustrating.
The action is there but it does feel like a case of going from country to country just to have another action scene which has been shown in the trailers already. Seriously - all of the main trailers for the film show action in various locations... This is all you get. If you have seen the trailers, you know you're about to get a car chase or a fight scene or an explosion etc. This kills the film for me too.
Daniel Craig looks as though he can't be bothered anymore but they needed him for this film because it links back to all three of his other films. Can't very well have a story like this and have a Dr. Who regeneration with the main character...... Maybe for the next one. It's no secret (on or off screen) that Craig has had enough.
The Bond Girls are 'meh'. They will be forgotten. Monica Belluci is underplayed but the sexual energy is crackling off the screen from her for the three minutes she appears. The other Bond Girl is.... Sorry - I watched it last night and have forgotten already.
Over all, I laughed a few times but mainly felt bored. I knew what action scenes were coming up, the story itself wasn't that interesting, the chemistry between characters (other than Bond and Q) was tired to watch and the ending just seemed incredibly rushed; one minute they're dealing with this and then - boom - they're back in this country and doing this and that and over here to do this and fix this or fail at that and then do this and finish....Considering the rest of the film is dragged out... The pace is just completely wrong.
I hope this is Craig's last Bond film and Sam Mendes too; the directing skills he brought to Skyfall (whether you liked the story or not) were clearly a fluke.