"The Dead Are Alive."
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
Daniel Craig
James Bond
Christoph Waltz
Blofeld
Léa Seydoux
Madeleine
Ralph Fiennes
M
Monica Bellucci
Lucia
Ben Whishaw
Q
Naomie Harris
Moneypenny
Dave Bautista
Hinx
Andrew Scott
C
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/spectre-spoiler-free-review "Spectre fails to reach the tremendous potential of its intriguing narrative and fascinating antagonist, but Sam Mendes still pulls off a decent James Bond flick. The screenplay raises significant issues with an incredibly dull subplot that deeply affects the pacing of a bloated runtime. In addition to this, Christoph Waltz's lack of impactful screentime is disappointing, to say the least, despite a brilliant performance from the actor. Fortunately, the jaw-dropping action set pieces elevate the overall film, which also benefits from gorgeous cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema) and exceptional acting across the board. Daniel Craig and Léa Seydoux's characters relationship is emotionally compelling, making Bond's mission feel more like an interesting personal journey. One of the best movies of the franchise is buried somewhere under the messy screenplay, but what can be found at the surface has much to appreciate." Rating: B
Now that Dame Judi has shaken her off her cinematic mortal coil, the new "M" (Ralph Fiennes) is facing increasing pressure from whizzkid "C" (Andrew Scott) to shut down the 007 programme and rely on an international, computer generated, system of intelligence gathering. Needless to say, "007" (Daniel Craig) has his doubts about this and after a manhunt to Rome (via Mexico) that must have cost billions, he alights on an exclusive gathering of the criminal great and good working for the eponymous organisation. Along the way, he manages to enlist "Q" (Ben Whishaw) and "Moneypenny" (Naomie Harris) in his quest to find the daughter of his old nemesis "Mr White". She - "Madeleine" (Léo Seydoux) may well know how to help him thwart the ambitions of this secretive and deadly organisation before it is all too late. There are plenty of (extended) action scenes here and the gadgets work well enough, but the story is thin and the characterisations lacking. The dynamic lacks jeopardy - we know who is likely to be behind the cunning plots right from the start and neither Fiennes nor Scott bring much to the party. Indeed the latter is really rather poor. What menace there is, is delivered via some underwhelming contributions from Dave Bautista's "Hinx" and from the appearances of Christoph Waltz, but they are all too infrequent to bolster the storyline before an ending that was, frankly, ridiculous - even by "Quantum of Solace" (2008) standards. The producers seem to be constantly trying to reinvent "Bond" without realising that the more they compromise the standards of the story and weaken the traditional characters, the less impact the franchise has when surrounded by many others of this genre that benefit from stronger writing and a more charismatic star. This is shorter than many of Daniel Craig's other outings as Ian Fleming's master spy, for which I was grateful because this is all rather mediocre from start to finish.
The word "convoluted" comes to mind, as does the word "unwatchable" By the time Spectre came out, I was honestly sick of Daniel Craig's James Bond hates being James Bond depiction. And now I've come to really despise him, I mean Moore used to be my least favorite Bond, and I like him so much more than Craig. But... the script was kind of all over the place. I think they were trying to do twists and turns, but they were stuck under steering with each turn, so all the twists they tried to throw at you never really worked. It ended up feeling like they were trying to be confusing for the sake of being confusing, and didn't know how to make it all feel confusing for the sake of being mysterious. I mean Christoph Waltz is a great actor, but even he couldn't find his footing in that mess of a story. The action was never suspenseful or even really enjoyable... ... and it all leaves you with the feeling that this is a Bond movie made by people who forgot how to tell a story. And that is kind of fitting given that is what Sony seemed to be threatening to do with Bond for a while, and it was 2015, just before the Hollywood Era of "story and characterization don't matter" It can only go down hill from here.
**Spectre has plenty of style, class, action, and spectacular moments but the film lacks the passion and zeal of Casino Royale or Skyfall.** After the incredible bombastic success of Skyfall, the return of Sam Mendes, and the announcement of Christoph Waltz as the villain, expectations skyrocketed to ridiculous heights. Unfortunately, these expectations climbed too high for Spectre to meet. While the story did a decent job of trying to tie all the Craig Bond films together and introduce a new supreme criminal mastermind, it didn't fully satisfy or carry the weight it intended. There were some exceptional action sequences, with the opening scene in Mexico City as one of the most stunning and impressive of the franchise. The train fight with Dave Bautista was incredibly entertaining as well, but much of the action felt restrained like Craig was tired of the role and didn't want to push the boundaries on some stunts. Seydoux and Bellucci each brought something new with their Bond Girl portrayals providing emotional exploration and depth unusual for a Bond film. Spectre is a great spy movie and a fun Bond flick, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to the level of hype and expectation set before it. After Casino Royale and Skyfall delivered so much more than a typical Bond film, Spectre seemed to settle for the status quo (which is still good but had all the pieces it needed to be incredible.)
Spectre has an introspect into what is wrong with modern Bond movies. Namely, that they don't work, because 007 is about action, exotic sceneries, cinematic brilliance, beautiful women, gadgets that go wrong or right, and most of all the wit and charm and atmosphere. I'm not sure when the forma should have changed from exciting to dull, probably around 1995, but it changed before that year. And it should have changed in a productive and interesting way. Instead, it changed to just total dullness with not one good aspect. The motivation of characters other than 007 is total zero in credibility. The inspiration is zero. The strategy is zero. The dialog is clumsy. This is to be expected from the changes around 1970, when the writer's guild became immensely jealous of talent and good writing, and only produced the writers with zero talent. And now those writers are the "judges" of new writers, God help this culture. The change in format should have changed long ago, about 1995, into "sons and daughters of 007", with 007 as a background figure, say fifth or sixth billing, with his sons and daughters taking center stage in this "less action, more computer" world. A lot of us said this well before 1995. It was painfully obvious, but we live in a world where Hollywood went total hack in the seventies, with those hacks endorsing the worst hacks of today. "Spectre" kind of gives us an introspective look at this with the timeline element. Bond faces the usual super enemy power, and fights the establishment which brings in the computer age. The character of 007 is the only thing that is salvaged in these new movies. It isn't Daniel Craig's fault that he is 007 for the worst writers, writers who are into the neo Nazi ideology of the seventies where women must be blond and pale, and any man who tries to save a brunette is doomed, but save a blond, and you're a success. The Hitler worship is so extreme in the modern Bond movie writing that it's impossible to deny it is there. And the directors are pathetic. Even given the ideal exotic locales, they manage to dumb down the scenery. One feels like the director actually says "How can we make this beautiful and exotic scenery look dull and depressing? Aha! I can do it!" Of course the day will come when Craig will be the beneficiary of this fame and get to do actually good films for which he'll be remembered. This movie is pretty much formula. The action is okay enough, and it isn't as contrived to be depressing as Casino Royale or A View to a Kill, but it is depressing and dull.
Words can't describe how boring this is.
Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr. White, who reveals that the organization that blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.
Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox -- and obliterate the world's economy.
Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M sends Bond—on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent—to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter, Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.
Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet—eradicating 'The Syndicate', an International and highly-skilled rogue organization committed to destroying the IMF.
Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen are out to snatch a decoding device known as the Lektor, using the ravishing Tatiana to lure Bond into helping them. Bond willingly travels to meet Tatiana in Istanbul, where he must rely on his wits to escape with his life in a series of deadly encounters with the enemy.
Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the prime suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the world's fate at stake and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan must consider that nothing can matter more than his mission—not even the lives of those he cares about most.
James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big.
With the help of Marc-Ange Draco, head of the Unione Corse crime syndicate, and Draco's troubled daughter Tracy, James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Stravro Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss Alps, where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women.