SPECTRE
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: November 6, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 48 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
16
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
SlateIsaac ChotinerNov 6, 2015
If Spectre has any saving grace, it’s Craig, who remains the best non-Connery Bond. It is not merely his physical presence, which is formidable enough; he has a unique ability to make peevishness dramatically compelling. And the subtlety of his sense of humor is one of the better aspects of his 007. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 3, 2015
Granted, there's comfort to be found in the familiarity of Mendes' film, which makes an effort to look back while also advancing the series. But there's a fine line between paying homage to the past and merely repeating it.... Spectre often crosses that line. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonOct 21, 2015
The first act is great, full of dark portent and bravura film-making flourishes. However, the final hour disappoints, with too many off-the-peg plot twists and too many characters conforming to type. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonOct 21, 2015
An unbalanced but never less than entertaining film, enthralling and deflating in roughly equal measure, and studded with moments of true, old-school glory. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 6, 2015
Even a subpar James Bond movie is worth seeing because, well, it’s James Bond. But if one of the most successful and long-running franchises in movie history wants to keep pumping, it’s once again time to change the formula. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedNov 5, 2015
Despite a plot trajectory that changes so often they seem to be making it up as they go along, everyone on and off the screen seems to be doing it by the numbers. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 5, 2015
There’s nothing surprising in Spectre, the 24th “official” title in the series, which is presumably as planned. Much as the perfect is the enemy of good, originality is often the enemy of the global box office. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezNov 5, 2015
Familiarity is not without its pleasures. But Spectre is so confused and inert that Craig can’t even sell the signature “Bond. James Bond” and “Shaken, not stirred” lines. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 4, 2015
Spectre, set up to be the Daniel Craig finale as Bond, isn’t a terrible installment in the franchise. It’s the lightest of the Craig Bonds — no sin in that. But like the end of Connery, the exit of Roger Moore and the layoff notice given Pierce Brosnan, it’s a tired, trite “greatest hits” re-packaging of stunts, chases and fights from earlier, better Bonds. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 4, 2015
I know the opening credits for a James Bond movie are supposed to be silly, but the start of Spectre achieves almost orgasmic levels of kitsch. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiNov 4, 2015
A drab, anemic machine, Spectre, may bring the spectacle, but it lacks a soul. Someone get Idris Elba on the phone. Read full review
42
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 3, 2015
Watching Spectre unfold, lumbering and slumbering, on the heels of a franchise high is a shock, so much talent coasting this time. Read full review
42
HitfixDrew McWeenyNov 3, 2015
They have tried, with this Daniel Craig run of films, to elevate the Bond movies so they are more than just acceptably silly spy movies, and one of the reasons SPECTRE is so frustrating is because it feels like the collapse of that ambition, and it is in one moment that you can see the entire thing burn to the ground. Read full review
42
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonOct 21, 2015
In general, this feels like a film patched together out of endless hastily-drafted script rewrites rather than a cohesive vision. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 4, 2015
Yes, some of the individual stunts and action set pieces temporarily hold our interest...but the story itself is not convincing on its own terms, playing like a series of boxes (Bond asking for a martini shaken not stirred) that need to be checked off and forgotten. Read full review
40
CineVueJoe WalshOct 22, 2015
Like Skyfall, Spectre is loaded with allusions to the previous films in the franchise, undoubtedly providing much glee for Bond fans. The nods, quips, and general formula that audiences have come to know soon becomes weary and tiring, however. Read full review
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