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Movie poster, 007 Spectre

Chase, shoot, sex.

It's James Bond time again. Special effects abound and character-driven plotting is left in the garage. It is extraordinary that this franchise is still going. It must satisfy some group or the other.

To your reviewer James Bond has been a man with a dirty job, ruthless, but charming, debonair and with a naughty sense of humour. James Bond always had a style, and never took itself too seriously. 007 Spectre is not that.

Spectre is Bond Dark. Craig is dead-faced, humourless and a bit average. Those might be good qualities for a real-life agent, but he's not a movie hero.

As for the story, someone wrote down a list of cliched plot points and strung them together between action scenes. With all the money the producers spend on making the Bond films, and with all the built-in publicity they have, it's a pity that they don't try to do something more compelling.

by Ali Kayn Australian release 12 November 2015 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also:

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Just the facts: Title: 007 Spectre (2015) Written by: John Logan (screenplay) and Neal Purvis (screenplay) & Robert Wade (screenplay) and Jez Butterworth (screenplay) Directed by: Sam Mendes Running time: 148 mins Rating: M The Players: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci Official website: www.007.com IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.

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