'Spectre' Movie Review: Daniel Craig Is Perfect, But the Film Is Not

— -- Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz and Léa Seydoux

Rated PG-13

Three-and-a-half out of five stars

When you put director Sam Mendes in charge of a James Bond movie, you’re going to get a great-looking James Bond movie. We saw it in "Skyfall" and we see it here in "Spectre."

The action is relentless and in some cases, quite brilliant. Daniel Craig, as Bond, continues to be perfect.

Sounds great, right? It’s not.

Let’s start with the cliché, predictable story. Following M’s (Judi Dench) death in "Skyfall," a man named C (Andrew Scott) is working to get the double-O program shut down. That plot point is more overused here than a reality show with Real Housewives in the title.

Then there are the James Bond movie hallmarks, which include, but are not limited, to:

1) James sleeping with a recent widow whose husband was an awful person: check!

2) James beating up a guy three times his size (Dave Bautista): check!

3) James having a contentious yet humorous visit with Q (Ben Whishaw): check!

4) James casually escaping death: check, check and check!

5) James introducing himself as Bond…James Bond: check!

6) James drinking a martini: check!

7) Stan Lee making a cameo: sorry, wrong franchise.

Great news, though -- all of these things work and have nothing to do with why "Spectre" isn’t a great movie. Neither do two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as Oberhauser, a bad guy with a twist, and Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, one of the most capable and intelligent “Bond girls” ever.

If only we were dealing with an intelligent script. Instead, it’s inconsistent, lacking both depth and soul. "Spectre" is essentially a well-acted "Fast and Furious" movie, with more British accents. It’s good but not great.