Review Roundup: Daniel Craig Returns as James Bond in SPECTRE

The newest James Bond installment SPECTRE, directed by Sam Mendes, hits theaters today. The cast includes Daniel Craig as James Bond, Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as Q.

Among the new cast members are Christoph Waltz who will play Oberhauser, Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra and Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann. Andrew Scott, Dave Bautista also star. Daniel Craig will return as the suave British SPY along with Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny and Ralph Fiennes as the new M.

The newest installemtn is described as: "A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a SINISTER organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE."

Let's see what the critics have to say:

Manohla Dargis: The New York Times: The current Bond team is trying to keep the audience entertained with new tricks and gizmos while keeping it kind of real, which perhaps explains why this Bond sweats buckets, tears up and even bares his feelings. Mr. Craig is very good at selling Bond's humanity, though in truth, what has always really turned us on isn't 007's humanity but the reverse.

Matt Tamanini, BroadwayWorld: There are occasional moments of humor in the script, but nothing approaching the fun of classic Bond. While the out-and-out misogyny of the Connery-era films has thankfully been toned down, it feels as if the screenwriters thought that womanizing was the only way that Bond could be enjoyable. Therefore, they over-corrected, and, in an attempt to make Bond more realistic, they made him far less interesting.

Peter Travers, RollingStone: If there is such a thing as "James Bond's Greatest Hits," then Spectre is it. The 25th movie about the British MI6 agent with a license to kill is party time for Bond fans, a fierce, funny, gorgeously produced valentine to the longest-running franchise in movies. Bond freaks will be org*smic playing spot-the-reference to the series that began in 1962 with Dr. No.

Guy Lodge, Variety: Large expanses of "Spectre" play as diverting but diversionary action travelogue, as one transitory character in an exotic locale leads our hero to another, in pursuit of opponents who don't really get to bare their teeth until the halfway mark.

Scott Mendelson, Forbes: Poorly mixing nostalgia and newfangled "it's all connected!" franchise world-building, the stitched-together Spectre will bore the living daylights out of you while threatening to render James Bond a culturally irrelevant relic of the past.

Jane Horwitz, The Washington Post: This new James Bond adventure is slick, but rather dull and by-the-numbers. Teens - and it's fine for most of them - may be carried along by the sheer designer sleekness of it. The one new thing that works is the emergence of gadget genius Q (Ben Whishaw) as a bigger character.

Stephen Whitty, NJ.com: It's not the best Bond you've ever seen, but on a scale of 1 to 10, it's a solid 008. Although it includes fistfights, gun battles and chases by foot, car, plane and helicopter, there's nothing flagrantly unbelievable here. The jokiness is toned down, and the grown-up elegance - mostly courtesy of a guest appearance by Monica Bellucci - is heightened.

Photo Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Danjaq, LLC and Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

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