*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.
PG-13; 148 minutes; Buy Link: Amazon |
With all the Star Wars mania that went on last year, I had almost forgotten about the newest James Bond adventure (twenty-fourth to be exact), titled Spectre which arrives tomorrow on Blu-ray and DVD. My review copy arrived on my doorsteps early this morning, and being a big 007 fan, I went ahead and watched the Blu-ray this afternoon.
There are two reasons why I didn't see the film in theaters:
1. It received mixed reviews from mainstream critics.
2. I live in a small town and the film never arrived at the one-screen theater.
The previous film, Skyfall, was the biggest grossing entry of the franchise and it was a critical hit as well. The director Sam Mendes returned to helm Spectre, which the film had a handful of product problems including the 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment hack and rumors of the production going way over budget; with the final budget estimated between $245 to $250 million. While Spectre didn't make as much money as Skyfall, it was still one of the biggest grossing films of 2015, taking in $877.9 million.
In Spectre, James Bond is on a more personal mission this time after he received a recorded video message from his deceased boss, M (a cameo played by Judi Dench). With the 00 division about to be canceled, Bond is on a race against time to overthrow the terrorist organization known as Spectre. His only lead to them is Dr. Madeleine Swann (played by Léa Seydoux), the daughter of Mr. White (played once again by Jesper Christensen). Of course he gets a little help from Moneypenny (played by Naomie Harris), Q (played by Ben Whishaw) and the new M (played by Ralph Fiennes) along the way.