Spectre: as a Bond film it's almost there

Rating: 8/10 (1 November 2015)

Spectre, the latest of Daniel Craig's outings as Bond is certainly the most classic Bond feeling film of Craig's films. Gadgets, chases with expensive cars, a key henchman and globe trekking: it's got them all.
The plot revolves around Bond discovering about an organization called Spectre (a nod to the Connery era films and the origin of Bond overall). At the same time however changes are happening at MI6 with a shift towards NSA/GCHQ style data gathering as opposed to assassins in the field, leaving Bond to be acting on his own accord.
Also unlike most of the previous films, Spectre digs into Bond's past, telling us about his parents and upbringing which is quite a departure from the very impersonal and admittedly two dimensional characters of the pre-Craig era.
As a lifelong Bond fan, I have to admit that I still prefer the films of Connery, Moore, Brosnan, Dalton and yes even Lazenby to those of Craig. However Spectre is definitely getting closer to those films, even if it isn't quite there yet.
Sam Smith's theme song is a largely unmemorable one unfortunately, though it isn't bad either. The only thing about it is that his singing in Falsetto for a Bond theme just feels out of place a bit. The music in the film overall is still feeling a bit generic action thriller-esque with not as much use of the classic chords as I'd like. Not saying that the heavy brass of John Barry's orchestra should constantly be blaring but it could certainly be used more, really adds a lot to the feel of the film.
Overall a pretty decent film. Definitely the most 'Bond' feeling of the Daniel Craig ones.