"SPECTRE is one of the better Bond films and certainly the most complete one of the Daniel Craig era"

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2018)

As far as movie franchises go, nothing and no one can touch James Bond. 50+ years and 24 films so far have ensured 007's status as the seemingly immortal superpower of British cinema. If we needed further evidence of this: 2012's SKYFALL became the highest grossing James Bond film ever. In addition, it currently sits in 13th place on the list of highest grossing movies of all time. In short, SPECTRE has a lot to live up to. But if anyone's up to the task, it's Bond, James Bond.
The film starts very strongly; an opening sequence that must be regarded as one of the best in the Bond's history. A single tracking shot following Daniel Craig's 007 to his intended target, eventually culminating in a fight onboard a moving helicopter is absolutely thrilling. By the time we've faded into the fantastically realised opening credits, complete with Sam Smith's haunting vocals, the stage has been well and truly set for something quite special.
From this point the film makes the most of its bladder-challenging 148 minute running time, taking Bond and company from London to Rome, Tangier and snowy Austria. Hoyte Van Hoytema's cinematography ensures each new location is presented as something resembling an excerpt from a well-produced tourism video. This really is Bond as we've grown to know him over the past 50+ years: he travels, he fights and he's always got time for a quick shag.
Daniel Craig has taken his time settling into the role of Bond. CASINO ROYALE was largely devoid of the wisecracking one-liners and suaveness that the previous entries had in bucket loads. As the Craig-era films have progressed, there's been a gradual reintroduction of the familiar character traits, to the point where SPECTRE really feels like Bond is now his old self again, or should that be new self?
Another part of the gradual reintroduction of the familiars also came with the first appearances of Moneypenny (Harris) and Q (Whishaw) as well as the man who would become M (Fiennes) in SKYFALL. With the band together at last, Bond has come full circle, and SPECTRE revels in its moments of the fun Bond has with his colleagues, particularly Q.
Any good Bond film of course, needs its Bond villain. The casting of Christoph Waltz as the far too mysterious Franz Oberhauser seems like inspired casting. Waltz has a natural flair for the sinister and as previous Bond's have shown; it's not always the more physically astute villains that are the most dangerous. It is a shame therefore that Oberhauser never quite comes across as the villain he could have been. He falls into that easy to step into sandpit of being villainous for the sake of it, a self-explained back-story into the reasoning's behind his villainous ways feels a little underwritten.
Providing the perfect contrast to Oberhausen's small stature is his chief henchman Mr. Hinx (Bautista). While his name may sound like something you might name your cat, it's clear from his introductory scene, in which he showcases a particularly nasty way of offing a potential rival, this is one of Bond's nastiest foes yet. A later fight sequence between Hinx and Bond on a train is also very hard-hitting, even for a Bond film.
Try as they might, one thing the Bond writers haven't quite mastered yet is the 21st century Bond girl. Previous instances show that an effort has been made to make the new-era Bond girl strong and not always necessarily in need of a man to save them... only to eventually need saving from Bond by the time the climatic events are taking place. SPECTRE's main girl Madeliene Swann (Seydoux) falls nicely into this category.
An area where SPECTRE really excels is in some of the smart script work. The MI6 building still stands with the damage inflicted during the events of SKYFALL; a visual metaphor for the state of the British secret service and its perceived perception. This is where Andrew Scott's Max Denbigh (or as Bond affectionately nicknames him: C) comes in. He's a member of the British government intent on bringing down the 00 program as he perceives it to be 'prehistoric'. He is insistent that a global communication of privacy-invading surveillance is necessary to combat the potential threats of this world. He's also a bit of a snarky git. His interactions with M provide some of the film's best bits of dialogue, and also provide this film with its biggest laugh-out-loud moment towards the film's climax
SPECTRE feels very much like a culmination of what has come before in the Daniel Craig-era of Bond. There are many references to the previous films and even a big reveal of a major plot thread that ties all the films together. There are also a few nice knowing nods to previous Bonds (hello, pussy) just to keep the die-hards happy.
There are a few familiar Bond fallings that do threaten to hamper the fun at times, but there is enough here to ensure that SPECTRE is one of the better Bond films and certainly the most complete one of the Daniel Craig era.