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It's too early to tell yes.
What I can tell though, is that the major newspapers overwhelmingly give it 5 stars (or 4).
There seemed to be a rather 'meh' response in the room. I'm genuinely surprised to see such warm reviews. People looked pissed off. (Maybe that has something to do with the insane queue to recover their phones!)
Here are some of my thoughts;
Firstly, the opening of the film is stunning, in particular the breathtaking opening shot. I don't want to say too much in fear of ruining the surprise but quite frankly it's the apex of the film and it just so happens to occur rather early on.
Also the main titles are weird and not in a good way. That's all I have to say about that.
Otherwise, as a true Bond fan I've waited for years for the return of Spectre and it's notorious figurehead. However, I can't help but feel that Spectre were hideously underserved. There is no explanation as to who they are or how they operate. Furthermore, there is no suspense or reveal over their nature. Surely the intelligence world would be rocked by the discovery of a secret terrorist organisation?!? Sadly this doesn't occur, little is explained over their motivation or why anyone would enlist in their ranks.This all feeds into the vague nature of the villain's scheme which makes little sense. This all reflects rather poorly on Oberhauser who is totally undercooked.
The action is just fine. That's it. The Aston chase is hugely disappointing as is Baustista who is essentially just there as an overpaid stuntman. Having said all this, 'Spectre' is a proper "Bond film". Most likely Craig's first. The real problem is that after seeing 'Skyfall' those anticipating something with more depth will be disappointed. There is nothing in the film that has the wit or brio of the William Tell scene, or anything approuching the poetic nature of the Tennyson inquiry. Instead 'Spectre' is messy and frothy in comparison. It's most definitely entertaining but it feels too consciously an attempt to make a proper old-fashion "Bond film", for better or worse.
The themes of the film are so obviously signposted you can't help but groan, especially the final confrontation on Westminister Bridge.
Some scenes fall dead (most with Waltz who is really off boil) but many do work, especially the stuff early on, especially the sequences in Rome and Craig and Fiennes's initial briefing.
In terms of the good, it's entertaining, the music is great and visually it's stunning with Whishaw stealing the show. The script is a little on the nose doesn't have the grace of Skyfall, aside a great line from Ralph Fiennes which drew applause from the rather cagey audience.
Craig is great and really is the king of the one-liners is time out. He's looser and more confident. He also looks rather sexy in the sweaty Moroccan bedroom scenes (there are some hilarious lines here where Bond interrogates a rat - I'll say no more).
This is more QOS than CR I'm afraid. A bit hit-and-miss
3/5
itv.com/news/2015-10-22/james-bond-spectre-review-spectacular-action-scenes-and-surprisingly-funny/
Well...
yeah how was the gun barrel music?
Who cares? Go see it and make up your own mind.
I just googled Spectre reviews and looked at the ones on Rotten Tomatoes.
If those that haven't been posted here are all mixed or 3 out of 5 it's not my fault.
Don't blame the messenger.
IATA Magazine: "it rivals #CasinoRoyale and IMHO is better than #Skyfall":
https://twitter.com/Rob_Coppinger/
SFX Magazine: "Perfect hybrid of vintage Bond panache and Craig era grit. Almost the true 50th anniversary film three years late...":
https://twitter.com/NickSetchfield/status/656938253346557952
■ ■ ■ ■ □, Scotland Herald: "Exhilarating Bond for these post-Snowden times":
http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13887147.Alison_Rowat_film_review__Spectre/
■ ■ ■ ■ ■, The Times: "Shall be giving #SPECTRE the full five-star treatment in The Times tomorrow":
https://twitter.com/muirkate/status/656942845274824704
■ ■ ■ ■ ■, Evening Standard: "Until Innaritu's The Revenant comes out, Spectre shrugs off the weight of Skyfall's success and sets upon out-doing it.":
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/spectre-first-review-perhaps-even-better-than-skyfall-a3096316.html
■ ■ ■ □ □, TimeOut London: "Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig take James Bond for another spin, with messy but enjoyable results":
http://www.timeout.com/london/film/spectre
HeyUGuys: "They expanded the character [James Bond] far too much":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqesjQEAYcU
■ ■ ■ ■ ■, The Telegraph: "A swaggering show of confidence":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/james-bond-spectre/review/
■ ■ ■ ■ ■, The Guardian: "James Bond is back, stylish, camp and sexily pro-Snowden":
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/21/spectre-review-james-bond-is-back-stylish-camp-and-sexily-pro-snowden
■ ■ ■ ■ □, Daily Mail: "A movie that warrants ALL the hype with 007 returning to his murderous, glamorous best":
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-3283684/Spectre-review-Bond-s-white-suit-spectacular-joyride-film-BRIAN-VINER-says-Spectre-warrants-hype.html
C-, IndieWire: ""Spectre," will please both the hardcore and the more casual fan":
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/review-sam-mendes-spectre-starring-daniel-craig-christoph-waltz-lea-seydoux-ralph-fiennes-20151021
■ ■ ■ □ □, The Independent: "Watching Bond be Bond, I didn't know whether to fist pump or facepalm":
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/reviewing-spectre-while-having-a-crisis-of-masculinity-a6703636.html
■ ■ ■ ■ □, ITV News: "Exciting action and laugh out loud funny":
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-10-22/james-bond-spectre-review-spectacular-action-scenes-and-surprisingly-funny/
■ ■ ■ ■ ■, The Daily Mirror: "James Bond is back with a brutal blast as SPECTRE is rated best EVER":
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-reviews/james-bond-back-brutal-blast-6677940
All of the above. Pretty much that is an accurate description of many of the issues the film suffers. That and bad writing.
In regards to the GB, I'm not sure if I should say. So be warned, don;t click unless you want to know the details:
I get the feeling its not as personal as Skyfall or some even feel not as good. It was gonna be hard for them to top it & still come up with something different at the same time. Some of the reviews mentioned SP & Waltz not fully explained & a lack of suspense, with humor also being the problem.
As usual you do great work. Thank you.
PS: If I come across a review that has not yet been posted here I will provide the link no matter if the review is good or mixed or bad. If they happen to be mixed it's not my fault.
The major newspapers seem to be...more used to the fact that we won't get a more formularic Bond film. And that makes me happy.
Frankly the word "journalist" is a little generous. Who ARE some of these people? "theshiznit.co.uk", "HeyUGuys"...?! Had anyone heard of these before today? What's the difference between someone like this and an average forum poster?
It seems anyone can start their own low rent website and suddenly get mentioned alongside The Guardian. Anyway, currently 9:1 positive on RT.
HeyUGuys is acrtually quite popular.
And because of this, the RottenTomatoes-meter has climbed to 92% after 12 reviews :-):
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spectre_2015/?search=spectre
Only 5 reviews counted so far on the MetaCritic-meter, 74% now:
http://www.metacritic.com/movie/spectre
But it's too early days.....
You won't be disappointed this time out. There is a marvellous kinship between the two, with Q being portrayed as slightly geeky whilst we see Bond have a clear influence and hold over him. Q isn't as brash and arrogant as he is in SF, if anything he seems to look up to Bond in the film. All the film's funniest moments belong to Whishaw especially something early on regarding the DB10.
Ben Whishaw is the best thing about 'Spectre'.
In regards to the main titles:
Also, I don't know if it's in the scripts, but in the third act there is a reference to an unused Fleming title which is really neat touch. I'll say no more.
<:-P