Spectre

It's finally here. Finally. FINALLY.

After all these months of watching all these Bond movies and reviewing them, it honestly felt like Spectre would never come. But, alas, here it is...and it's kind of different.

Spectre drags Sam Mendes from Skyfall back to direct, and it stars Daniel Craig as James Bond (of course), Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, and Monica Bellucci, and it is the 24th James Bond film, after 2012's Skyfall. I've already talked about that. If you're reading this review without reading the rest of my Bond reviews, allow me to slap you in the face and ask what you've been doing all this time.

The movie follows Bond, who's vastly in trouble with M due to a stint in Mexico City revealed in the pre-credits sequence, as he's uncovering more and more about the secret organization that have been set up in the previous three movies. Along the way he finds out that a figure from his childhood, Franz Oberhauser (Waltz) is actually the one at the helm, and Bond is shocked, having previously believed him to be dead. He uncovers secret after secret, meets various characters such as the beautiful Madeleine Swann (Seydoux), until he finally gets to meet face to face with, "the author of all his pain."

And that's all I can really say about the plot without revealing too much. Maybe I should do a separate spoiler-filled review. Or, maybe one after it's released on Blu-Ray.

You know what? This movie has been hated by a lot of critics for no valid reason. Spectre shows a real return to form for Bond movies. The set-pieces are outlandish, the humor is there, and we have a massively amazing villain at the helm. The only real problem I have with Spectre is the ending, which seems a little too, "This is the End of Bond." for my tastes. But, honestly, otherwise, it's a pretty solid film. The plot is very thrilling from beginning to end, all complimented by Mendes's fantastic directing and the AMAZING score by Thomas Newman.

Craig gives another dazzling performance as Bond, actually, I'd go so far to say it's his best. He's finally starting to fall into his own place in the timeline, but at the same time, he's kind of showing different aspects of the previous actors, which I really like. It's kind of like he's the perfect Bond...I think I said that before, but I'm saying it again. Anyway, Christoph Waltz is thrilling and menacing as Oberhauser (I really want to say the twist about his character...ah fuck it, it was obvious from the beginning. HE'S BLO-), and contrary to a lot of critics' sayings, I don't think he was underused at all. He'll be back with a bigger bang in the next movie he's in. And, finally, Lea Seydoux. Oh, man...Lea Seydoux. She's like Vesper 2.0 with less betraying Bond, and I like that. Perfect match for Bond.

So, with this slightly restricted review, I'm going to give Spectre a 4 out of 5. If the ending wasn't so cheesy as it is, it may have been a 5 out of 5, but I don't know. All I know is that Bond is still as thrilling as ever, even 24 movies on. Now, excuse me, I'm going to go watch it again.