SPECTRE: Film Review SPOILER-FREE

IMDB synopsis: 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.

Every review possible for this film is going to say the exact same thing, but I'm going to say it anyway because it's worth mentioning: the opening tracking shot in this film is amazing. It was beautiful, and was crafted and used perfectly. From that I was surprised, I was going into watching this film sceptical after the success of Daniel Craig's earlier Skyfall, there was no way it wouldn't pale in comparison. And from that opening tracking shot onwards, I was right.

I always look forward to the title sequences of James Bond films, naked silhouettes aside (which is a topic for another day) they're always so well executed and even though the style has changed through the years they all have the same feel to them. This one was no different, however Sam Smith's song just didn't fit as well as Adele's Skyfall. I think the people at Bond HQ knew that too, it wasn't advertised nearly as much as Adele's was, or Skyfall as a film in general. It's as if they knew no one would prefer Spectre.

On the whole, Spectre was a gigantic waste. A waste of beautiful cinematography, a waste of what we're told will be Daniel Craig's last Bond film, and a waste of a good villain. Seriously, who has Christoph Waltz in their film and only uses him for three scenes? He is an amazing actor, one of the best villains in the industry, and the character had the potential to be interesting enough - but there just wasn't enough of him! And we had to wait until the last act of the film to even see him, and understand his evil plan. Bond villains are always some of the best, and this just didn't cut it.

On top of all of that, and I hate to say this, the film dragged. I actually checked my watch during it - which I haven't done during a film since Jurassic World. I was bitterly disappointed, but I think that is just down to the amazing standards set by Skyfall and Casino Royale.

At least it was better than Quantum of Solace... I give it a 5/10.

Click on Dan the Hunk to watch the trailer!