It has all the ingredients to be the perfect bond film, the script just wastes them.

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2015)

First off let me say that Daniel Craig as bond at first was far from being my favorite choice, but he actually won me over very soon, because he delivers a very different, interesting mysterious 007. Now his films are another matter, and while none is to me a true James Bond movie, Casino Royale was a very good film and Skyfall was just beyond perfect, not the true old school James bond film, but the closest of the Craig era films to the old formula. And to me if all his films continue on that path, it would be just perfect. Thats why when Sam Mendes decided to return, and with a title like spectre, my expectations were to an all time high (see what i did there). So...
Well the film has a very strange feeling, it is the first film in the Craig era to follow the old James bond formula to every letter. Which i loved, but somehow it didn't make for a perfect film, or something close. There's everything, the gun barrel at the beginning, the extravagant long opening sequence, the song, the car, the action, the bond girls, the villain, the exotic locations, the dry humour, the sex, the catch phrases, everything on the checklist! But...
The opening sequence has an insanely epic single take shot, but somehow the action that follows feels stretched and not very elaborate, and while cool it never reaches the standards set by the previous opening sequence of Skyfall which was breathtaking.
Then the song, the credits are just perfect, and among my favorites, but the song while fine, its far from being good, and definitely not for a 007 film, and when comparing to the previous one (Skyfall) it gets obliterated.
Then the story, which i think its the biggest problem of the film, it doesn't have a clear plot nor a definite objective to drive the narrative. It feels very stretched and like nothing is happening, so when you really think about it, there's little to be interested or to grab your attention. The Bond girls are amazing, but unfortunately Monica bellucci appears for only 5 minutes, which is a waste of her talent. The Villain could be the best, but the insanely talented Christoph waltz doesn't do nothing to differentiate his character from his own character in Inglourious Basterds. But thats not his fault, the script simply doesn't do anything with him aside from a few weird scenes and a torture scene. Another character and talent wasted. The Spectre organization doesn't do anything either.
The film also has an homage feel, where it has tons of throwbacks to the old movies, like in the beginning of the film that has something very iconic in Live and let Die and so on. Even the action scenes and settings reminds the old movies.
The action is cool, there's many action scenes, each one in a different location around the world, but somehow they all feel stretched, very simple and not very elaborate. Definitely not very creative. And the big climax has a strange feeling. But there's a fight between 007 and Hinx (a great character) that is definitely one of the best ever made. The characters remain cool, but while Ralph Fiennes is an huge actor and very charismatic, they don't do nothing really great with his character to not make us miss the insanely charismatic Judi Dench, that delivered the perfect, scene stealing M.
The visuals remain their Oscar winning quality. The score remains perfect, but even the score from Skyfall was better, or at least fresher. And thats the thing, this has all the ingredients to make the best bond film ever, but it didn't happen. It's like eating a pizza with all your favorite ingredients but the mass is burnt. It is a good film, but is far from being the best, and a think they wasted so many things here thanks to a script that just doesn't deliver. The film compared to Skyfall just makes it look bad. The old formula is finally back, now they just have to be creative and bring an interesting story and try to create new iconic moments.