Sam's Pathetic Ersatz Copied and Tired Rehash Entrails

Rating: 6/10 (26 October 2015)

Or maybe INTROSPECTION. Someone has to stop Sam Mendes digging into 007s fictive past, just to smear it all over the screen. We get another villain who is actually not a villain, but a sad victim with emotional issues. Taking over the world takes a distant second place to telling Bond about his childhood. Maybe he is actually Sigmund Bond.
I complained that Skyfall ended like Home Alone. Aspects of Spectre ended like Scooby Do, with the team driving around together in their own bloody Mystery Machine. Mendes can't seem to grasp how to represent the machinations of a large organisation. The wonderful board room scene, as with so many nice looking scenes, actually represents nothing.
Mendes can shoot a movie; much of Spectre looks lush. Unfortunately much of it also looks like both The Spy Who Loved Me and Quantum of Solace. What is particularly annoying about Mendes is that he knows enough to copy the outer shell of a Bond film, but has no idea what he is doing. Much like a child playing with a shiny piece of an engine. Maybe the directing of Bond films could be protected by an act of Parliament.
One of the most endearing thing in Fleming's universe is that MI6 is almost as implacable as the villains. But for the second time in a row, we see MI6 in chaos - but in such a shallow way that would be embarrassing for an episode of Spooks.
Mendes does the loving long shots, for instance of a train going through the desert, but then the action on the train is a tired rehash of many films including many past Bonds. The train is also the site for a shockingly sad romance attempt, which had the audience bemused in it's sheer incompetence.
I fear this film will be found out on a second viewing, it is actually quite uneven - too long in most areas yet rushed in some places. The smarter actors reduced their screen time to a minimum. Belucci escaped quickly, Waltz kept his scenes tight.
Hopefully we can get back to a proper Bond film with a director who understands the espionage language, and actually likes and maybe understands the Bond franchise.