148 minutes, Action/Adventure, M

You may have heard. SPECTRE is breaking records. And I’m not talking about Box Office records around the world alone either! This, the 24th film to be released under the James Bond franchise officially entered the Guinness World Records this week for claiming the largest film stunt explosion, ever! In his fourth outing as the world’s favourite spy is Daniel Craig. In SPECTRE, 007 receives a cryptic message which sends him on a dangerous globe-trotting chase after the leader of a secret and sinister organisation.

You may have heard. There’s another headline currently circulating in the media regarding SPECTRE. At age 51, Italian veteran Monica Bellucci is the oldest ever Bond girl, and four years Daniel Craig’s senior. So how does this not-so-slight variation in age barrier for Mr Bond fare? Well, for the five minutes or so she’s given, much better than the (too much) screen time devoted to Bond’s standard of female, Madeleine Swann, played by French-born actress Lea Seydoux, who has to be one of the most less-appealing Bond girls in recent memory.

SPECTRE starts in spectacular style! An innovative, awe-inspiring opening act that is shot as one continuous take set deep in the heart of a Mexican festival known as “Day of the Dead” is simply breathtaking stuff and as close to perfection as any set-piece sequence could be! So if you go to SPECTRE, do not be late! However, raising the bar early before that bar takes a siesta becomes quite disappointingly habitual in SPECTRE. Want another example? Take the immediately appealing casting of INGLORIOUS BASTERDS & DJANGO UNCHAINED Oscar-winner star, Christoph Waltz. as the prime villain. After an early taste of the smooth-talking, calmly malicious presence of Waltz, in an excellent segment set in Rome, the script-writers decide to delay his re-appearance for so long, it would make the wait for the arrival of a cancelled Metro train service feel fast! Even Christoph Waltz himself seems unimpressed by this, somewhat underplaying his villainous role during the final act.

The true let down of SPECTRE is its screenplay. At two and a half hours in length, and yes it feels it too, the script writers keep their audience waiting far too long for the showdown it builds the climax for. In between that and the sensational opening, there are a number of exciting and well-staged action sequences shot in several locations around the world, which is usually when SPECTRE is at its most entertaining and its best. Yet once all the carnage has been packed up and put away, and apart from an interesting plot involving M (Ralph Fiennes) back at HQ, SPECTRE progresses in rather sluggish (and often too cheesy) style that truly lacks the sharpness and attentiveness Director Sam Mendes applied in his previous Bond film, the much more sophisticated SKYFALL.

3 out of 5

SPECTRE – Film Trailer

Footnote to Parents
If you’ve seen any previous Bond film, then you know what to expect – action violence and some scenes of sensuality. Nothing to shaken or stir those from 13 years and up.

Review by Moviedoc
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