Bond #24: Secrets are not what they used to be

Rating: Null/10 (26 March 2016)

This movie begins in Mexico, where Bond attends a celebration (the Day of the Dead) to shoot a few villains. What begins like a normal Wednesday afternoon in Bond's job leads to collapsing houses and a helicopter fight witnessed by thousands. On his return, Bond has to discuss the meaning of 'secret' in 'secret service' with his boss M (Ralph Fiennes). Meanwhile, a certain C (Andrew Scott) intends to put an end to secrets anyway by introducing a new surveillance network. Technical progress would make agents like Bond a thing of the past. M doesn't trust C while Bond makes his own investigation leading him to the organisation Spectre and their leader Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and now all the puzzle pieces we were given since 'Casino Royale' will be put together...
'Casino Royale' brought some fresh air to the series, 'Quantum of Solace' was a disappointing sequel, 'Skyfall' had a great story with more attention to the characters, and 'Spectre' now continues from 'Skyfall' with more action like a Bond movie should. The character of the new young Q was surprisingly well developed in 'Spectre' after the awkward beginning with him as a cliché 'hacker genius' in 'Skyfall', because this time he gets into a loyalty conflict. I noticed the use of vehicles is a lot more fun if you needn't return them, from a car parked in the river to a plane that lost its wings. What doesn't work too well this time is the love scenes, e.g. the seduction of the widow (Monica Bellucci). They neither achieve the intensity of 'Casino Royale' here nor the sporty casualty of the old days. Also the performance of Waltz (who was amazing in 'Inglorious Basterds' and 'Django Unchained') leaves something to be desired, he seems to be happily grinning all the time thinking of the paycheck he got for 'Spectre'.