Don’t worry. I’ll explain.

You know when you get a holiday present, and you don’t want to unwrap it because the packaging is just oh so aesthetically pleasing?

Spectre is not this movie.

I like to describe the twenty-fourth Bond movie in the franchise as a gifted pair of socks: it’s inevitable. The person giving you the gift might throw the socks in a wrapped-up box (if you’re lucky), and when you open up the present, you’re like, “oh.” But when you put them on, they’re comfy, familiar, and make you feel okay. That’s Spectre.

In this film, James Bond (Daniel Craig) receives a cryptic message from his past, and he’s tasked with trying to solve it without the help of the recently merged MI5 and MI6.

Aside from the terrible theme song, I’ve been excited for this film. I’ve appreciated what Craig has brought to the role. I wouldn’t say he’s my favourite Bond, but I don’t mind him.

I had VERY high hopes for this movie going into the theatre, and while it definitely isn’t Skyfall, it’s still not a bad effort from MGM.

Where I take issue with the movie is with how lazy the villain is. Christoph Waltz’s Ernst Stavro Blofeld has similar specs to the one we all loved to hate in Skyfall – Raoul Silva. While I don’t think it was intentionally lazy, what I think happened was the studio thought they’d stick to a formula similar to Skyfall because it was so successful and the audience loved it. Using the Bond villains of previous Craig fare seemed a little dull to me, and I think that aspect of the plot could have been done much better. Also – it was absolutely a waste of Waltz.

My other fault with this movie: the pacing and length. This movie could have easily been 3/5ths of the time it was. The opening scene alone takes too long to get to the point. I want to say it was about 5-7 minutes in before James starts doing what he needs to do to kick off the movie. Some of the parts on the train could have also been shorter.

Ralph Fiennes, who plays M, and Ben Whishaw, who plays Q, were entertaining, as usual. Former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista as henchman Mr. Hinx didn’t really do it for me. Anyone who came across him was basically his punching bag.

Don’t let my comments discourage you, though. This is classic Bond, and anyone who is a massive fan of the franchise will enjoy it. Will I go see it again? Probably not, but I do recommend going to see it if you like action movies, or, if you are a die hard fan.

Oh – and as for the cars – they were okay. The Astin Martin DB10 (yay!) makes an appearance in the film; so does a Jaguar CX-75 (ehhhh).

You can check out the trailer below!