A licence to thrill

There are many great Bond movie traditions.

The epic song, the sexy women with even sexier names, the preposterous gadgets.

But one of the lesser-known rules of the series is that whenever it enjoys a huge box-office hit – think Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me or Skyfall – its successor has to have everything including the kitchen sink chucked at it.

Spectre – just like Thunderball and Moonraker before it – makes “more is more” its motto and doesn’t disappoint.

At £200m, the 24th Bond film – and Daniel Craig’s fourth – is the most expensive of the lot.

The action is relentless. There’s breathtaking carnage involving destroyed buildings and loop-the-looping helicopters in Mexico, a high-speed Aston Martin car chase through Rome, a bone-crunching train fight in Tangier, a monster explosion that made The Guinness Book of Records and a climax under the nose of Big Ben.

When it comes to the other traditions of the franchise, some fare better than others.

Sam Smith’s The Writing’s on the Wall divides Bond fans but it still waltzed off with an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Sadly, there are no double entendres to enjoy with either Léa Seydoux’s Dr Madeleine Swann or Monica Bellucci’s much heralded (but sadly wasted) 50-something Spectre widow Lucia Sciarra.

Among the gadgets are a multi-purpose watch and car, which help keep Bond safe and justify the inventor Q’s most welcome existence.

The big news this time round is that Bond’s longest-running adversary Ernst Stavro Blofeld is back after a 32-year absence, specialising in terror, revenge and extortion as his crime syndicate spreads its tentacles across the globe.

Double Oscar winner and Tarantino favourite Christoph Waltz is the one stroking the Persian cat and wearing the scar and Nehru jacket.

Of the other newcomers, Sherlock’s Andrew Scott, who plays the drone-obsessed C, makes an interesting new thorn in the side of MI6 and gives Ralph Fiennes’ M the best line of the movie; and Dave Bautista, as Mr Hinx, is an imposing hulk of a henchman without having quite the presence of a Jaws or Oddjob.

But what of the man himself? He may lack the PR acumen of, say, Sir Roger Moore, but when it comes to playing the world’s most famous secret agent, Daniel Craig is hard to beat.

He’s the epitome of cool with a bone-dry sense of humour, he throws himself fearlessly into the action, and at 46 he still looks handier than action heroes half his age.

If Spectre really is the Craig swan song, he’ll be a very tough act to follow.

Spectre now showing in new improved HD on