People think ‘Fast and the Furious’ has a lot of sequels. Well enter Bond 24 aka ‘Spectre’. A franchise that has been running now since the 1960’s, and a film series that almost didn’t exist, is now a billion dollar juggernaut. The modern day stories of James Bond seem to juxtapose the old and the new, the continuous notion of old-fashioned spy work being outdated, to be replaced with top of the line technology, only to have our hero 007 prove them wrong and save the day once more. This theme continues in Spectre, but finally we start getting answers to the questions that have been raised since Daniel Craig took the helm in ‘Casino Royale’.

There has been an underlying conspiracy of an organisation controlling governments and creating chaos to form a New World Order that, it formed the foundation of the baddies in for the last 4 films. This has come at to the expense of many of Bond’s associates and loves as he’s fought for answers against almost every odd. Finally we are introduced to Christoph Waltz playing the sinister, malevolent leader and start to get closure on a long, arduous mystery, but there are several rather large hurdles to overcome first.

In his travels across many beautiful landscapes around the world and interacting with many beautiful women, James Bond is tracking the organisation, but strictly off the grid. He’s been grounded after a rather careless exercise in Mexico – it’s the first scene of the film and take note of the amazing one shot opener that immediately hooks you in – and the ‘higher-ups’ are closing the vice on MI6 to shut down their Double O program. Bond can trust no one, and constant dead-ends and near misses elude his progress.

We start to get a sense of his past in this film, his origins, and even his future. A– as the world’s best spy is exposed and severely outnumbered, with a 7-foot 200kg assassin on his tail, Bond cannot afford to skip a beat. There are plenty of the usual 007 tropes; action, massive set pieces, swelling music, cliché and one-liners. It’ is a tight film once again directed by Sam Mendes, who was at the helm for of ‘Skyfall’ which grossed over a billion dollars.

What this film will achieve is to continue the polarisation of fans, those who want the series to stay old school, with caricature villains and over the top schemes, and those who want realistic, emotional and touching stories that explore character more than plot. Spectre balances this well with nuance and control, some scenes flash nostalgia of Bond’s gone by and others remind us we are in the new age of spy flicks.

Weirdly the question you must ask yourself is ‘Does this feel like a James Bond film?’ Go and watch Spectre, and your decision will reflect which side you’re on. One thing for sure is that the man and the legacy of this franchise will keep it strong for years to come.