Sceptre - Less than the sum of its parts (007 review)

Got to watch the new Bond last night and I was underimpressed. Definitely a major downgrade from Skyfall, and probably the worst of the Craig films. Far too long and tried to cram too much in - I think the movie's major issue is that it tries to retroactively tie together too many events the previous movies. But they weren't intended to be cohesive at the time, so it just comes out forced.

What's odd is that the movie seems, on paper, like it should be a lot better than it is. Ralph Fiennes should be a terrific M, but somehow it doesn't work right (mostly because they halfassedly try to turn M into a sort of an action hero, which he is not, and Fiennes doesn't work well in that position). Bellucci should be an awesome Bond chick, but wasn't. I will say that Christoph Waltz was excellent in his role.