Spectre

It took me a long time, but now I am here.

Here to review James Bond's 24th cinematic adventure, Spectre. It's the fourth where he's embodied by Daniel Craig and the second where director Sam Mendes is calling the shots.

This time, Bond is out of a job. Bond went on an unauthorized trip to Mexico City to stop some terrorists, caused some chaos, and got grounded by M (Ralph Fiennes). Meanwhile, the 00 operation is about to get grounded by C (Andrew Scott), who wants to install his new worldwide surveillance system, the Nine Eyes. OK?

So James crashes the funeral of one of the terrorists and discovers the evil organization Spectre. Its leader, Franz Oberhauser Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), knows James all too well. All the villains from the last three movies were on his payroll. And one of them, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), has a daughter named Madeline (Léa Seydoux) who knows what Spectre's up to. James has to protect her to keep Oberhauser Blofeld from winning.

Yes, another film hid a signature franchise villain's name under a fake one. It was novel when Star Trek: Into Darkness did it, but it's too obvious here. Bright side is, Christoph Waltz is ideally cast as Blofeld. Soft-spoken, intelligent, sadistic; his Blofeld makes for one memorable villain.

As for the other villains? Dave Bautista's Mr. Hinx debuts by beating another henchman to death. After that, he's the silent henchman up until Bond gets rid of him. It's also revealed that Blofeld has a collaborator within the British Government, the revelation of which came out of nowhere at first. But it made sense later.

The screenplay was written by four writers, including John Logan. It gives Bond quite more humor compared to the last few films, especially Skyfall. The gadgets in Bond's new car, for instance, don't work as he expects it to in a car chase. It also drags its heels during the set pieces. And it also shows Bond at his least tactful: romancing the widow of the aforementioned terrorist (Monica Belluci) and leaving her, despite knowing that Spectre assassins want her (and he personally foiled two of them). It's 148 minutes long, but it felt longer at times.

Composer Thomas Newman returns from Skyfall; his work here is much more memorable than in Bridge of Spies. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, an Oscar no-show last year from Interstellar, should show up here after they see his long-opening shot. Editor Lee Smith, at least, makes the action scenes exciting.

Spectre is a serviceable Bond, I'll give you that. And whether or not this is Daniel Craig's last time at bat, the story feels like a good way to end his cycle.