New James Bond film breaks box office records

She's not even close to being the best Bond girl in this film - as a side note, kudos to Mendes and his fellow filmmakers for casting 51-year old Monica Bellucci as Lucia, with whom Bond has a signature steamy romp. "I'm walking on the tops of buildings and running away from collapsing buildings, dodging helicopters and doing all the things I do in a James Bond movie". And it's not the only nostalgia director Sam Mendes evokes.

Going rogue, but of course with a few gadgets from Q, Bond discovers SPECTRE, a sinister organization with its hands seemingly in every government organization in the world and vows to put a stop to them. There is a fantastic fight sequence on a passenger train in Northern Africa that is just so sharp. And all the usual touches - dinner jackets, vodka martinis, sleek hideouts - we've come to expect since "Dr. No".

Spectre succeeds mainly as a series of dazzling set pieces connected by a thin plot, and its opening, set in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebration, is the ideal example of its strengths and weaknesses.

He later discussed how much fun he had making Spectre, which has already been breaking box office records in the United Kingdom ahead of its USA release on November 6th. There's a big-name theme song - although as warbled by an alternately bored and overwrought Sam Smith, it's not one of the best. Craig has hinted that this could be his final time playing 007, which would leave him in a tie with Pierce Brosnan for third-most Bond movies.

But Craig is cruelly efficient.

Bond movies have a tradition of real action, real explosions and real stunts.

Lea Seydoux is the leading lady; but, unfortunately, there does not seem to be a great chemistry between her and Craig. But he adds just the right touch of snobbish villainy. That's Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), who remains in the shadows (sometimes literally) for the first half of the movie, before revealing himself as the architect of Bond's misery as well as a long-lost figure from Bond's past. I rather enjoyed this one (perhaps because it's possibly Craig's last turn as 007).

When the title of the 24th Bond film was announced, it delighted fans because of the memories the name evoked.