10 Reasons Why Spectre Doesn’t Top Skyfall

Sam Mendes' Spectre, the 24th entry in the James Bond franchise, is not a bad film. Critical consensus indicates it's flawed, but still basically enjoyable and artfully made by a director who's proven surprisingly adept at blockbuster filmmaking. Nevertheless, Spectre has the misfortune of following one of the greatest Bond movies of all-time: Mendes' own Skyfall. A Bond film made to simultaneously bring 007 up-to-date and celebrate 50 years of the character, Skyfall is comfortably the best of the Daniel Craig Bonds. Spectre comes in at a respectable third.

Brogan Morris

Published: Nov 5, 2015 05:55 pm

This article is over 9 years old and may contain outdated information

3) The Dialogue Isn’t Up To Scratch

Recommended Videos

Spectre-8

Another sign of a rushed script: too much saying, not enough doing.

Where Skyfall‘s words felt carefully prepared, Spectre in parts feels heavily stodgy thanks to all the expositionary dialogue that John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth left in there. When it’s time for action, Spectre flies by. When it’s time for talk, the film slows markedly.

[zergpaid]

When the movie isn’t busy explaining everything, Spectre makes obvious attempts at iconic dialogue, but mostly the lines just come across as a bit bizarre (“You’re a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond,” “I always knew death would wear a familiar face,” etc).

Ultimately, there’s nothing in Spectre that rivals Skyfall‘s rat monologue, and nothing that resonates quite like that final exchange between Bond and Judi Dench’s M.

We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

Author

Brogan Morris