A Complete Failure

Rating: 3/10 (21 November 2015)

There seems to be a trend with Daniel Craig's Bond films; the viewers get a good one, then an awful one. I'm sad to say Spectre affirms this notion because this movie is terrible.
Daniel Craig is one of the dullest actors I've ever seen. I've taken home loaves of sourdough bread from the grocery store that showed more emotion and I've seen cactus in Arizona that gave off more charm. He looks completely uninterested in every scene and as a viewer I felt the same. He was awful in the other movies too, but at least the writing was clever enough for me to stomach him. This movie had nothing to prop itself up and all were left with is a miserable alcoholic in a suit.
In addition to a horrible lead actor who, again, proves he can't portray an interesting character, the plot is entirely predictable and cliché. No important questions from the previous films are answered and there's a subplot that didn't amount to anything. To make matters worse, there are drawn out scenes of boring dialogue between characters who don't matter. I was hard-pressed just to stay awake.
Most Bond films work as compelling stories of espionage and pulse-pounding action. There's clearly nothing remotely interesting about the characters or story, so surely the action is good, right? Wrong! Spectre has action that's horribly filmed just like most modern action movies. There's tons of nauseating shaky cam, ridiculous close-up shots, and they're simply not fun to watch. The writers even tried for a moment of comic relief which, just like the rest of the movie, failed. I was honestly amazed at how little I cared about anything that happened on the screen. The stakes never felt high, and at times I even found myself rooting AGAINST the main character.
Not even Christoph Waltz could save this disaster. The man is a brilliant actor who can bring so much spirit to a role, yet the movie only gives him around 15 minutes of screen time. I could tell he was doing his best with the material he was given, but clearly the script put him in a box. The creators of this movie seemed hellbent on stifling his talent. When you have someone as remarkably gifted as Christoph Waltz in your cast and your movie still sucks, then you KNOW you've made a horrible mistake.
Overall, this movie proves yet again that Craig is an unimpressive lead. The writing is awful, the characters are bland, the plot had more holes than swiss cheese, the climax was built up to nothing, and the finished product was a total waste of time. The best aspect of this movie was the marketing, because the previews made it look far better than what it actually was. Do yourself a favor and stay far away.