Depressing and boring.

Rating: 3/10 (17 November 2015)

'Spectre' is one of if not the worst Bond movie I've ever seen and it isn't easy to make a terrible Bond film. I mean even a bad Bond movie has some redeeming qualities in the fact that the world is so over the top but Daniel Craig's Bond cannot even allow it's audience this concession. 'Spectre is a giant pretentious mess that people will be hard pressed to have any fun with.
The one defining thing about Craig's Bond films is that they have aspired to really do more with the character. One wonders though how they have taken that approach. I see a lot of other movies in this Bond film particularly Nolan's 'Batman' and the 'Bourne' films. I think that is why the film feels so inorganic and pretentious. It has nothing to say on it's own accord and offers no characterization in it's script or it's visual style other than a false sense of foreboding mood.
I think what I disliked most about 'Spectre' is that it is a spy/espionage movie has the audacity to lecture it's audience about the dangers of living in a post-Edward Snowden world. Will I sound like too much of a cinematic layman if I say that probably the biggest draw to Bond is the escapism it offers? Mendes fails to realize he can make an action picture like this and still have it be fun and not be incredibly snooty with a forced political statement. The thing is Bond is not the venue to raise the points 'Spectre' teases that it wants to raise. It's no coincidence that Bond's peak of popularity coincided with the Cold War. Bond is in many ways a cold war relic embracing that world but also giving audiences an escape from it. 'Spectre' would be like Roger Moore reminding audiences that nuclear holocaust could be a conceivable possibility and that it was Bond's responsibility to have a sociological take on the issue while sipping his martini. It's a jarring depressing feeling. 'Spectre' wants to have it's cake and eat it too. There are goofy Bond moments that embrace the series history but in the midsts of morose discussions about data collection and counter terrorism it doesn't land any effect.
Also, I'd like to say that this is one of the most blatant wastes of a talented actor's time I've seen. Christoph Waltz is utterly wasted with one of the most stupid character motivations ever. I imagine that one of the largest draws to the film will be to see 'Spectre' and Blofeld revisited. Waltz doesn't do anything to pay tribute to these films or characters other than the quickest of visual cameos. Instead he sets up a terrorist organization because his father adopted Bond for two years. I cannot believe that this motivation could be read and not be thought of as lazy and superficial. That being said I think Waltz could have delivered had he been allowed to over indulge in the trappings of an eccentric character. Mendes is holding the leash so tight that Waltz' slow delivery is boring instead of deliberate and creepy. You think Mendes would remember that what made 'Skyfall' work was that Javier Bardem actually did chew the scenery a little bit.
I'm sorry but it's time for Daniel Craig to go. Bond needs to be reinvented and his reinvention should not go grittier. I am so tired of Craig's whole "it's such a huge burden to be James Bond" schtick. He drives fast cars, plays with cool weapons, drinks expensive martinis, and by my count had sex with four women in this movie. The least he could do was have a little bit of a sense of humor about it. 'Spectre' is a chore to sit through and it's a shame. For Bond completists only.