“Spectre” Review

The latest instalment in the James Bond series saw the return of criminal organisation Spectre as Daniel Craig’s Bond films came full circle in Spectre.

In my opinion, Spectre is already one of the best James Bond films of all time. While Daniel Craig isn’t among my favourite actors in the role, I think most of his films (Casino Royale, Skyfall and now Spectre) are outstanding Bond films. Only Quantum of Solace fell below par as far as his Bond films are concerned.

I was very happy to see Spectre make a return as the leading antagonists. It was the first time Spectre had been the main villains of a Bond film since Diamonds are Forever (released in 1971) and their return was long overdue in my opinion.

The film reveals that Spectre was behind the events that took place in Craig’s previous Bond films, which will make re-watching those three films a whole new experience. We also learn that Le Chiffre (Casino Royale), Dominic Greene (Quantum of Solace) and Raoul Silva (Skyfall) were all agents of Spectre.

The cast all did a really good job in Spectre. This was not only one of Craig’s best Bond performances, but Christoph Waltz (the latest actor to play Ernst Stavro Blofeld) stood out as well and made me want to see more of their dynamic. Léa Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann is now one of my favourite Bond girls and other new cast members like Dave Bautista (Mr. Hinx) and Andrew Scott (Max Denbigh) performing really well in their roles, with returning cast members Ralph Fiennes (M), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny) and Ben Whishaw (Q) also having substantial roles.

Spectre includes a lot of references to previous Bond films, in particular to Craig’s previous instalments. I’m usually wary when a film uses as many references as Spectre did but in Spectre it really helped Craig’s run as the character come full circle. All of the references added to the story and moved the plot along.

As usual, the James Bond films continue to get visually more impressive with each new instalment that is released and Spectre was no exception. The visuals in some of the action sequences and explosions were top-notch, with the explosion of the old MI6 building being a visual highlight of the film.

A lot of debate has been taking place regarding whether Daniel Craig will return for one more Bond film. Considering the nature of Spectre’s ending with Blofeld being left alive and Bond disappearing with Madeleine, I think they have to carry on the story into another Bond film starring Craig. However, the ending is why I think Craig needs to return for another film, but up until the last two minutes Spectre had been bringing Craig’s films full circle which could have indicated that it was his last film as Bond.

In my opinion, Spectre is an excellent James Bond film. It was great to see criminal organisation Spectre again, the cast were excellent and the film was visually stunning. For the majority of the film it felt like it could be Craig’s last film as Bond, but the anti-climactic ending makes it anyone’s guess if Craig will return again.

My rating: 9/10

Still unsure about seeing Spectre? Check out this trailer below: