Review: ‘Spectre’

SpectreDaniel Craig has spent much of the past few months answering questions to his future as the iconic super agent 007, and much of what we’ve heard is a tired actor ready to move on from the franchise, and maybe that’s not a bad idea. Coming off the biggest film in this storied franchise’s history, Skyfall, director Sam Mendes returns with star Craig with Spectre, and action packed thrill ride that feels more like a retread of past Bond films rather than it’s skillfully crafted predecessor.

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Spectre begins with Bond (Craig) tracking a group of terrorists lead by an assassin named Marco Sciarra, who are planning to to blow up a stadium full of people during the Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico. The pursuit of Sciarra leads Bond to an ever larger revelation as he comes in possession of a ring with a mysterious octopus symbol on it. On his return to London, Bond is placed on indefinitely leave by M (Ralph Fiennes) after his actions in Mexico. We meet a new player in the Bond universe, C (Andrew Scott), the head of the Joint Intelligence Service, which consists of the recently merged MI5 and MI6. C is intent on disbanding the 00 program and replacing it with “Nine Eyes”, an intelligence co-operation agreement between nine countries set to provide unprecedented surveillance resources to these governments.

Ralph Fiennes in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Ralph Fiennes in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Bond goes dark and continues to investigate the mysterious organization that he comes to know as Spectre, an organization of powerful people headed by Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a man that seems all too familiar to Bond. To infiltrate Spectre, Bond must confront one of his previous foes, Mr White (Jesper Christensen), whose daughter, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), can help Bond find the answers he’s searching for. The two must travel the globe to follow the clues they hope will lead them to uncover Spectre’s plan, but an assassin and a high-ranking member of Spectre named Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista) is in hot pursuit.

Dave Bautista in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Dave Bautista in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Overall, Spectre is a bit of a mess and it relies on way too many Bond cliches, but it’s still a Bond movie with a lot of enjoyable action sequences. The fun about Bond is, of course, seeing the character in action, but if you’re expecting something more groundbreaking than Skyfall, you’ll be left disappointed.

Stars:

3 out of 5

After Credit Scene?

No

Trailer:

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

J.K. Rowling Mini-Series ‘The Casual Vacancy’ Will Debut on HBO April 29-30

casual-vacancySTARRING MICHAEL GAMBON, JULIA MCKENZIE, KEELEY HAWES, RORY KINNEAR;
DIRECTED BY JONNY CAMPBELL FROM A SCRIPT BY SARAH PHELPS

Pagford is a quaint, picturesque town in the Cotswolds, a seemingly idyllic English village with a cobbled market square and ancient abbey. Behind the pretty façade, however, is a town at war: rich vs. poor; parents vs. children; wives vs. husbands; and teachers vs. pupils. Read More →

The New Trailer for J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Casual Vacancy’ Has Arrived

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HBO has revealed the new trailer for the HBO Miniseries/BBC adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s best selling novel “The Casual Vacancy.” The show will be broken into three parts with parts one and two scheduled to debut back-to-back on Wednesday, April 29 (8:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), followed by the debut of part three the next night, Thursday, April 30 (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT).

When Parish Councilman Barry Fairbrother unexpectedly dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. An English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, Pagford is not what it first seems. What lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war – rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest battle the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

The cast includes Michael Gambon, Keeley Hawes, Rory Kinnear, Monica Dolan, Julia McKenzie, and Abigail Lawrie.

The three part miniseries is directed by Jonny Campbell and written for the screen by Sarah Phelps. Neil Blair, Paul Trijbits and Rick Senat serve as executive producers.

Michael’s Review: ‘The Imitation Game’- This is One Game You Must See to Believe

TIG BENEDICT POSTER FINAL.indd

Alan Turing was a key figure in helping the allies win World War II. Known for his expertise as a mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and philosopher, he was a pioneering computer scientist who created the template for what would become the computers we use today. However, his accomplishments were never publicly known due to his criminal prosecution for being a homosexual. Read More →

James Bond 24 Cast and Title Announced!

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And there it is..while you were sleeping, Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the 24th James Bond film will be titled Spectre! This particular name that will no doubt peak the interest of Bond fans everywhere. SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, as well as the films and video games based on those novels.The group is led by evil genius and supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Read More →