[ryan]

I'll leave it at, I mostly agree with Dr Kain, though your tone didn't leave me to expect you giving it an 8/10.

I thought it was a really solid movie, not as good as Skyfall, closer to as good as Casino Royale, though. Definitely a close third for Craig's movies, which I think have all been very good.

I did find many things odd about it, though. Craig's Bond films have at times felt like they were trying to break the long established Bond formula, and I think that's a large part of what has helped them be far better than all the others, especially Skyfall, it really very little resembled a Bond film. The others to varying degrees were using and adapting bits of the Bond conventions, but they felt like they were trying to be their own thing.

From the beginning Spectre feels like it's fallen back to the old conventions, for no good reason, other than this might be the last film for a while, so hey, why not bring back all the old tropes. It moves past them, and as a huge James Bond fan I really didn't mind any of it, but it felt somewhat out of place for a Daniel Craig Bond film, and I think the movie gets stronger a little ways in when they move away from following old patterns.

I don't think I'm familiar with Waltz, I found him to be an interesting character and I liked the portrayal. However, because I am familiar with Sherlock, I kept expecting Moriarty's character to turn out to be the true mastermind behind everything, though it wouldn't have been nearly as believable in this film as it is in Sherlock. It reminds me of one of my Skyfall reactions: I'm only familiar with Finnes as a villain, so up until he gets shot, I expected him to be in league with Silva. One of the dangers of casting certain actors, I guess. Similar thing happened in Red 2, as soon as Anthony Hopkin's character was introduced, my cousin knew he was the villain (and why later I expected him to be a villain in Thor, instead of just a giant dick).

Speaking of Finnes, all the stuff with M was great, I really like him as M, and I hope that in future Bond films, Daniel Craig or not, he continues as M (all of the other actors playing M have done so for more than one Bond, haven't they?).

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I won't. I'd give Casino Royal a 9.5, Quantum of Solace 7.5-8, Spectre a 9, and Skyfall and 11. Take that how you will.