Very decent if not up to the par set by 'Skyfall'

Rating: Null/10 (30 November 2015)

As one might gather from the title, this 24th entry in the official 007 series reintroduces Blofeld and the SPECTRE organisation (of 1960s Bond) for the post-Cold War era. The results are relatively successful, even if it often feels like the filmmakers are stretching it by connecting all of the villains of the first three Craig Bond movies to SPECTRE. Christoph Waltz is solid too, however, his performance is hampered by his limited screen time and the difficulty of not comparing his work to Javier Bardem, who one entry earlier created one of the most memorable Bond villains ever in 'Skyfall'. It is also difficult not to compare the overall film to 'Skyfall' - to which it pales - but 'Spectre' works fine if taken as a film on its own. The film benefits greatly from the uniqueness of having M, Q and Moneypenny work side by side in conjunction with Bond throughout. It is debatable whether Q and Moneypenny have ever had as pivotal roles as they do here, and there is something potent in the noticeable bond (pun intended) between all four. The film also successfully carries on 'Casino Royale' and 'Skyfall''s agenda of the double-O program becoming obsolete while including some relevant media and terrorism angles. The film is additionally superbly shot throughout by 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema with effective focus manipulation, lots of mobile camera-work and some excellent shots early on as Bond walks for metres on end towards the camera, setting one on edge, not knowing where he is heading - which is a nice metaphor for the twisty, turn-y plot too.