Spectre
starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux and Ralph Fiennes
screenplay Jonathan Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth
directed by Sam Mendes
Rating: ♦♦♦♦◊
A message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover the terrible truth behind a sinister organisation known as SPECTRE. MI6 is threatened with closure by being absorbed into one all-inclusive intelligence agency and Bond discovers that the advocates of the plan are in league with arch-villain Ernst Stavo Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). Many actors have played Blofeld, but Donald Pleasance in “You Only Live Twice” (1967) is the most famous. Other actors are: Telly Savalas in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969); Max Von Sydow in “Never Say Never Again” (1983); and, Charles Gray in “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971).
At the age of 50, Monica Bellucci is the oldest Bond Girl ever cast. Daniel Craig seems not to be aging. He’s a really good James Bond. But I looked back at pictures from Craig’s other 007 movies and saw that yes, indeed, he is aging.
A license to kill is also a license not to kill.