Mendes was born to direct Bond

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2015)

The Bond films since Daniel Craig came on board have been an interesting ride. 'Casino Royale' was brilliant, followed by the disappointing 'Quantum of Solace'. Then Sam Mendes came on board and 'Skyfall' became an instant classic. There were rumours Christopher Nolan could be coming on board for 'Spectre' which would have been absolutely mind blowing I suspect, but I can safely say that if he wasn't to be the one I was very happy to have Mendes back. He seems to have the style of Bond absolutely down pat. The opening scene of 'Spectre' is a particularly great example of this. So much fun and such a visually appealing scene. A great way to start the film and get the audience in the mood for the ride ahead. If there's any chance of getting Mendes back a third time I say go for it.
There are so many aspects to any Bond film that you could write for days about it. It's actually a little overwhelming trying to assess every one of them. I liked Sam Smith's song 'Writing's on the Wall' a lot more with the credit sequence behind it than I did simply listening to it before I saw the film. Craig as Bond was as good as ever and I have to say I hope we get one more film out of him. Christoph Waltz in the role of the lead villain was good but I feel he was underutilised. They tried to give him similar scenes to Javier Bardem to shine but it didn't work to the same effect for me. I absolutely love Waltz so hopefully we will get to see more of him in the future.
The script is pretty standard Bond, with some excellent twists here and there that should delight fans. There really never is a dull moment and the 148 minute runtime flies by, a sure sign of a very finely made film. I worried back when 'Quantum of Solace' came out that the allure of Bond was gone and that they were trying to make it something it was not and consequently ruining it. Luckily it seems that was a mere bump in the road and things are now well and truly back on track.