"We've been waiting for you, Mr Bond" - and it was worth the wait

Rating: Null/10 (26 October 2015)

I am of an age which means that I have seen every single James Bond film at the cinema as it was released. ""Spectre" is the 24th movie in the most successful franchise in cinema history and the fourth to star super-cool Daniel Craig as 007 and the second to be directed by the British Sam Mendes (following "Skyfall" which was the biggest money-spinner of them all). This time, I was at the Odeon cinema in London's Leicester Square on a Sunday morning before the film's general release next day for a cast and crew screening. Mendes briefly introduced the film, explaining that five effects houses had been at work until the last moment in a tight post-production schedule. The audience applauded him and applauded again at both the conclusion of the movie and the end of the extensive main credits.
Like ""Skyfall", the film opens with a terrific pre-credit sequence. Indeed this visit to Mexico City's Day of the Dead festivities is so exciting, nothing that follows quite matches it. But, not to worry, the rest of the movie is classic Bond and immensely enjoyable. All the successful ingredients are there.
We have exotic locations: Rome, Tangiers, Austria, and my home city of London including the Thames, City Hall, Westminster Bridge and even a scene in "Rules", the oldest restaurant in the city and somewhere I have eaten several times. We have Bond girls: the age-appropriate Italian actress Monica Bellucci (still gorgeous at 50) and the age-inappropriate French actress Léa Seydoux (wearing more clothes that in "Blue Is The Warmest Colour"). We have Bond villains: Christoph Waltz, who has come so far since he was introduced to English-speaking audiences in "Inglourious Basterds", and the weighty Dave Bautista, who channels Oddjob from "Goldfinger". Of course, we have compelling music - both the opening song from Sam Smith and the throbbing soundtrack from Thomas Newman.
The plotting is not always clear or credible but, heh, this is a Bond movie. And, for those who know their 007 outings, there are countless references to earlier films in the franchise, whether it is a ceremony commemorating the dead ("Live And Let Die") or a fight sequence on a train ("From Russia With Love") or a clever car with an ejector seat ("Goldfinger") and even mentions of many earlier villains. The script manages to have the requisite amount of humour (including a conversation with a rat) while striking a contemporary political tone (a sympathetic nod to Edward Snowden in its opposition to excessive surveillance). In short, another triumph for Mendes, Craig and the franchise.