Spectre *** ½
Dir:Sam Mendes
Starring: Daniel Craig, LéaSeydoux, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Dave Butista, Andrew Scott

If you read my review of Skyfall (the last Bond movie prior to Spectre) last week then you would know I thought it was a major misfire for the franchise(despite being beautifully shot and despite becoming the biggest money-spinner in the history of the series). The glum Quantum Of Solace was even worse. So I sat down to see Spectre with much trepidation but ended up being pleasantly surprised.

The movie hits all the right notes (the cheesy introductory song sequence notwithstanding). The opening action sequence with a deadly brawl in an airborne helicopter is a winner and that sets the rest of the movie up for a typical globe-hopping adventure that surprisingly (though perhaps unnecessarily) ties together all the previous Daniel Craig Bond movies and brings to the fore a villain (Christoph Waltz) well-known to fans of the series. You also get guns, gadgets, gals, cars and car chases as well as various nods to previous Bond films such as the brutal fight onboard a train with a hulking monster (Dave Bautista) recalling both From Russia With Love and The Spy Who Loved Me. You also get a Bond who’s not afraid to feel, keeping intact an element introduced with Craig into the series. By the end of the movie you get a Bond which is a neat blend of the old and the new. And that’s just fine with me. Daniel Craig has also grown into the role and wears the suit (figuratively and literally) well (Tom Ford does an excellent job with clothing our hero) and if this proves to be his last Bond (which seems to be a distinct possibility from statements being floated around) then Spectre wouldn’t be a bad way to sign off, especially considering how it appears to bring to a satisfactory close the saga for the Craig Bond that began with Casino Royale.

Of course, the film isn’t perfect. The plot certainly has some holes in it (but still hangs together better than a lot of Bond films). Monica Bellucci (showing her age but all the more womanly for it) is wasted while Christop Waltz could have had slightly more to do. The movie could also have done with a slight bit of pruning - chopping 15 minutes or so off wouldn’t have hurt at all.

Oh, and watch out for a nice little revelation about the new ‘M’ (Ralph Fiennes) near the end of the movie.

Cut to chase: The Bond franchise returns to form.

Shaandaar * ½

I expected so much more from Shaandaar. Written and directed by the team that brought us the wonderful Queen and starring Shahid Kapoor, hot off his success in Haider, and Alia Bhatt, an actress who’s developed into one to keep an eye on, and with Karan Johar serving as one of the producers, Shaandaar had all the necessary ingredients. But the ingredients never come together and all we are left with is one big mess.

A flimsy script, with lame characterisation and clichéd gags, is the biggest culprit. But the crime is compounded with the forced whimsicality (including distracting animated sequences) that director Vikas Bahl wants to impose on the film along with the affected and over-the-top humour (including reducing the wonderful Sushma Seth - always nice to see her – to horrible overacting) which doesn’t work at all, even for a second. Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt make for a good pairing as a couple of insomniacs brought together at a destination wedding at a big, British castle (he the wedding planner and she the adoptive sister of the bride). But they have so little to play with that their chemistry is all for nought. The only possible honest emotions come from Sanah Kapoor (daughter of Pankaj Kapoor, both on and off screen, and half-sister of Shahid Kapoor) as the plus-sized bride saddled with a boorish husband-to-be obsessed with his own eight-and-a-half-pack abs. The only other positive may be the well-choreographed song "Gulabo". The movie also needed to be cut back by about 30 minutes.

Cut to chase: Nothing shaandaar about this one

Kmumtaz1@hotmail.com; Twitter: @KhusroMumtaz