What do we love about James Bond movies? The action? The cool gadgets? The Bond girls? All of the above? Absolutely. You know what to expect when you get into the depths of a Bond movie, but with the Daniel Craig led Bond films, an emphasis of story crept its way in, in ways that we hadn’t seen with the Brosnan movies (or at least from what I could remember). Having been introduced to Daniel Craig during the time where the likes of Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible) and Matt Damon (Bourne Trilogy) were redefining the action hero, Bond’s portrayal took a grittier and more violent approach, and became more talkative than others to the point where you actually have to pay attention for a plot that isn’t as much straight forward than previous. With the effects of Skyfall still lingering in the air (thanks Adele), there was much anticipation for the follow up because of its success. From the trailer, you know they spice up every Bond movie, and from the Octopus logo, it was nice nod to an older Bond film, Octopussy, that let it be known that this was going to be a grand send off for Daniel Craig if this is his final Bond movie, which I think it should be.

For a grand finale, it didn’t live up to my expectations. When you’ve been 3 movies deep into a movie and major shake-ups have happened (a new regime to take over MI-6 following a major death from Skyfall), there’s a lot to digest and when you have the final movie to wrap it all up, you’d think that the story would just stick to its whims and get it going. As I’ve said before, you know what to expect with a Bond movie, but where it picked up at many times, it became more and more random which caused it to slow down. I actually got tired a few times throughout the movie, because the story was taking its sweet time to develop. Don’t get me wrong, it has its action packed (and damn near nauseating) moments, but in terms of having an interesting story to follow along, it didn’t grip me. It lost me, and soon enough it was to the point of being completely tuned out and ready to hit the exits as the lights came up. There were technical issues right before they were playing the movie which started up with Sam Smith’s music video for the theme song. If that was a sign of things to come, then maybe I was set up from the jump.

This is not a bad movie, but in comparison to Skyfall, it’s a disappointment. It’s like being all worked up and prepared for something exciting only for it to pull it away like what Lucy does to Charlie Brown over and over again. If you take away Skyfall, this is the best of the previous two, and you’ll get what you’re looking for, but it won’t be as amazing as you’re likely hyping it up to be. I fell victim so you wouldn’t have to. But ultimately, this is my opinion, this is my review

That’s My Word & It STiXX