Spectre

"Bond, James Bond". This infamous line has been in all the Bond films since they've graced the silver screen back in 1962, and it works today just as effectively as it did back then. Ever since the Bond franchise went through a major overhaul back when "Casino Royale" was released, the audience draw has been better than ever. So, after we saw Judi Dench's character of M getting killed off in the last installment, there just had to be another film to follow, and they did with "Spectre".

A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond (Daniel Craig) on a rouge mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia (Monica Bellucci), the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organization known as SPECTRE headed by Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh or C (Andrew Scott), the new head of the Centre of National Security, questions Bond's actions and challenges the relevance of MI6 led by M (Ralph Fiennes). Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) to help him seek out Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), the daughter of his old nemesis, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of an assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot. As Bond ventures toward the heart of SPECTRE, he learns a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks.

Others to round out the cast are Dave Bautista as Hinx, Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Alessandro Cremona as Marco Sciarra and Stephanie Sigman as Estrella.

This was directed by the incomparable Sam Mendes ("American Beauty" '99, "Road to Perdition" '02, "Jarhead" '05, "Revolutionary Road" '08, "Away We Go" '09, "Skyfall" '12). Although this was effectively directed with ease by Mendes, considering his resume, this and "Skyfall" had to be a walk in the park for this guy. Some of his other films were directed so well that the characters appeared as they were regular people that we were 'spying' on as they were living their lives, so this had to be a 'no brainer' for him. It was solidly written by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth based on a story by Logan, Purvis and Wade which is based on characters created by Ian Fleming. Considering this was written by four, count them, four writers, it was written far better than I ever dreamed. Usually, as a rule of thumb, if there is more than two writers, the script gets so bogged down, because of the 'too many hands in the pot' mentality, that the film suffers badly. This, other than a couple of slow places, actually kept one's attention. It starts out with great momentum, than soon it wanes a bit, then before you know, starts picking up again and then soars. Christoph Waltz is a hoot as the baddie as he is in most of his films.

For all you Bond fans out there, not to worry--there will be another Bond flick coming our way in the foreseeable future. Even if one is not hip on the plot, the visual effects predominantly designed by MPC (Moving Picture Company) were seamless as were the stunts. It's a great popcorn film in which to escape into and just have fun.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                              Rated: PG-13                                148mins.