Daniel Craig’s Fourth 007 Film: James Bond Battles ‘Spectre’

Arguably the best thing about “Spectre” is that Daniel Craig is still James Bond in it.

On the flip side, one of the drawbacks of the 2015 adventure is that it spends perhaps too much time looking backward rather than forward.

Longtime Bond fans may be especially critical, but “Spectre” often follows a familiar formula: a fierce train fight here (“From Russia With Love”), an Aston-Martin car chase there (“Goldfinger”). Despite this, there’s great pleasure in seeing Craig embody Bond for what was his next-to-last portrayal, in pursuit of the enemy organization that his rebooted Agent 007 faces.

This enemy is led by Christoph Waltz’s character, who shares a past with Bond, making them pseudo-brothers. Ultimately, however, the main antagonist turns out to be someone long recognizable to Bond aficionados. That spoiler has been out for a while, but we’ll keep it under wraps for those who might still be unaware.

The primary women Bond encounters in “Spectre” have connections to his foes: Lea Seydoux, who would return in Craig’s final film, “No Time to Die,” plays the daughter of returning villain Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) and serves as the main love interest. Meanwhile, Monica Bellucci—significantly older than previous Bond flings—appears briefly as a criminal’s widow.

It’s delightful that series newcomers such as Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw (M and Q, respectively) get ample screen time. Unfortunately, Naomie Harris has less to do as the capable Moneypenny compared to her role in “Skyfall.”