Movie · 2015 · Action, Adventure, Thriller · 2h 28m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.0/10 (1.1M ratings)
The Dead Are Alive.
Overview
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.0/10
IMDb: 6.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.23/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 63%
Metacritic: 60
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Sam Mendes
Production
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Pictures, EON Productions
Cast
Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Rory Kinnear, Jesper Christensen, Alessandro Cremona, Stephanie Sigman, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Adriana Paz, Domenico Fortunato, Marco Zingaro, Stefano Elfi DiClaudia, Ian Bonar, Tam Williams
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, expensive Bond entry with strong craft, a few standout action beats, and a moody sense of scale, but it’s also overlong and often feels like it’s retreading the same character questions without enough new payoff. Fans of Daniel Craig’s era and polished spy spectacle will get enough to enjoy, while viewers wanting a tighter villain, sharper script, or more momentum may come away underwhelmed.
Best for
Bond fans who like the Craig-era blend of bruised heroism and franchise self-mythology
Viewers who prioritize production design, cinematography, and set-piece spectacle
Audiences in the mood for a sleek, melancholy spy thriller with big-budget polish
Skip if
You want a lean, tightly plotted espionage film
You’re frustrated by underwritten villains and repetitive franchise soul-searching
You prefer lighter, more playful Bond adventures
Overview
Spectre is a handsome, polished spy thriller that knows exactly how to look like a major event. Sam Mendes stages the action with confidence, and the film has enough elegance, travel, and menace to keep the machinery moving even when the story starts circling familiar Bond anxieties.
Worth noting
The problem is that it often feels like a sequel to ideas rather than a fresh dramatic engine. The villain’s grand design is less compelling than the movie thinks it is, and the emotional revelations land with less force than the film’s scale suggests. Still, Craig remains an effective Bond, carrying the bruised authority that made this era work.
Bottom line
If you’re invested in the Craig run, this is worth seeing as part of the larger arc. If you’re coming for the sharpest plotting or the most memorable antagonist, it’s a mixed bag: stylish, occasionally thrilling, but not quite as satisfying as its best moments promise.
Top Letterboxd reviews
demi adejuyigbe · 3953 likes
imagine christoph waltz mumbling in anger after getting his ass kicked, printing off black and white photos of people bond knows and taping them up like "oh he's gonna be sooo scared about this." fucking dork. i'm not scared of any man who can work an officejet
james bond undresses a grieving widow and has sex with her and then after the sex she puts some lingerie on
Patrick Willems · 2305 likes
If I was one of those Spectre board members and I learned our leader had spent years devoting massive resources to harassing one guy because he was jealous of him when they were kids, I would move for a vote of no confidence
Evan (2★) · 1968 likes
Uninteresting. Uneventful. Uninspiring. Under-used Villain. Seriously, Christoph Waltz was completely wasted in this role. Wooden Acting. Boring as shit. Horrible Script. These were just a few of my thoughts after Spectre ended. Dave Bautista was the best part of the movie and he literally says one single word. I mostly enjoyed the set pieces, although they were still underwhelming. The fight between Craig and Bautista was the highlight.
The theme song "Writings on the Wall" was better than the movie… more
Den_of_geeks (3★) · 1363 likes
“I’m Mickey Mouse”- James Bond (2015)
Matt Singer (2.5★) · 1292 likes
If I live to (00)700 years old I will never understand why Sam Mendes et al. decided the right move after Skyfall, a film about whether James Bond deserves a place in the modern world, was to make Spectre, a film about ... whether James Bond deserves a place in the modern world. I’ve loved the Bond franchise my whole life, and Craig is a terrific 007 when he’s allowed to be. But at a certain point, if the creators… more If I live to (00)700 years old I will never understand why Sam Mendes et al. decided the right move after Skyfall, a film about whether James Bond deserves a place in the modern world, was to make Spectre, a film about ... whether James Bond deserves a place in the modern world. I’ve loved the Bond franchise my whole life, and Craig is a terrific 007 when he’s allowed to be. But at a certain point, if the creators… more