SPECTRE

SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW

The three-year wait is finally over.

In SPECTRE, a cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. 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.

I decided to go into the cinema with a mindset that I wouldn't set my expectations for this one to be high, as it would be really something for it to be able to top Skyfall.

Turns out that setting the bar low really helps, especially when the film ends up exceeding your low expectations.

I thought SPECTRE was in many ways Skyfall's equal, and I really think that it's managed to top it.

From the get-go, we get an explosive pre-credits sequence set during the Day Of The Dead festival in Mexico City.

The action sequences were really spectacular and it really got the adrenaline pumping.

However, what really stood out to me right from the start was how freaking well the film is shot.

Goodness me, this is one beautifully shot movie.

There's a certain shot in the pre-credits sequence that just left me and everybody else in the packed theatre astounded. It was breathtaking.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema better get that bonus.

And then we are greeted with an absolutely gorgeous opening title sequence by Daniel Kleinman, matched with the excellent theme by Sam Smith, "Writing's On The Wall".

As I've said before, the opening titles can either make or break the theme song, and in SPECTRE, it really did compliment the song magnificently.

The film does slow down a bit to establish the main and sub plots, but in no way was the effect jarring.

The transitions from scene-to-scene were lovely, and I thought the flow towards the halfway point was spot-on.

On to the story, and I have to say that it was really something.

Well, the story was brilliant to me, a James Bond fanatic who has watched the films repeatedly and religiously ever since the age of six.

Basically, you'll need to know a couple of things before watching SPECTRE, in order to fully understand it.

You will need to watch all three of Daniel Craig's previous Bond adventures, Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012).

Don't bother asking why. Just do it, and you can thank me later.

If you don't have the time to watch all three, I posted a three-part entry on this blog called "Everything You Need To Know Before Watching SPECTRE", so do check that out.

Okay, back to the movie - and to its star-studded cast.

Can I just say that in this one, Daniel Craig has truly made the role of James Bond his own.

There's just a certain sense of comfort and confidence in his portrayal of the character this time round which just makes Craig the best Bond behind Sean Connery, in my opinion.

The supporting cast was pretty good as well, especially the gorgeous Léa Seydoux who plays Dr. Madeleine Swann.

I watched many interviews she did in which she said that her character was in many ways Bond's equal, and I found that very hard to believe as this is, after all, a James Bond movie. Women tend to fall at Bond's feet.

After watching the film, however, I'm glad that that old archetype is gone.

Dr. Madeleine Swann is the most memorable Bond girl ever since Eva Green's Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale nine years ago.

Seydoux was magnificent, portraying a strong and feisty lady who is also very very intelligent and independent.

My only qualm was that I wished they could have given her character more time with Bond to establish a more convincing romance.

Other than that, though, she was perfect.

The MI6 Whitehall staff (M, Q, Tanner and Moneypenny) were great, and I was so glad that they had more to do in this one.

Dave Bautista as henchman Mr. Hinx was superb too, and his fight scenes were extremely intense. I was literally on the edge of my seat.

On to the not so good side of the cast now, and there are three of them - Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci), Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) and Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz).

Monica Bellucci's character of Lucia was magnificently mysterious and dark, but she had so little screentime.

She portrayed Lucia very well too, exuding charm and sexiness in abundance, together with great mystery.

It's such a shame because they set her up to be a very interesting character, but she's barely in the film.

I would have liked it if they had given Bellucci's character far more to do, as I really felt that her casting was a real waste of such a great talent.

For Max Denbigh, I felt that Scott also lacked screentime.

As with Lucia, Denbigh was set up to be such an interesting character, but we end up not seeing enough of him.

And now the film's main antagonist, double Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz, who is arguably the greatest actor in the world in this day and age.

His talent was so painfully wasted with such a small role for such a big villain.

The role was so dreadfully undercooked that I was just left disappointed - not at Waltz, but at the writers for not making him a better villain.

Shame, really.

Everything else was pretty decent, from Thomas Newman's score to Sam Mendes' directing.

The screenplay and dialogue were alright, and the witty humour in SPECTRE was very welcome.

I can easily recall at least three mega laugh-out-loud moments, so that's a very good thing.

Of course, there will be endless comparisons against Skyfall, and although I say that SPECTRE has managed to top it, I still feel that Skyfall was a more polished movie.

If only some of the 148 minute runtime was devoted to other areas like the villain, among others, SPECTRE would have been right up there amongst the elite.

All in all, SPECTRE is a solid follow-up to the magnificent Skyfall.

It's bigger, it's more epic, and it's got a great story to match it.

If only the execution (in terms of editing, screentime for select characters and pacing) had been a little better, then SPECTRE could have very well been the best Bond ever.

Oh well, can't get everything you wish for.

The cast was good and the cinematography was truly Oscar-worthy.

SPECTRE is simply, a very good film.

Hence I now come down to two verdicts.

If I'm thinking as a mega Bond fan, SPECTRE gets a solid 9/10.

As a neutral goer though, maybe a 7.5 or 8/10.