"Bond, James Bond." "Martini, shaken, not stirred." The car. The gadgets. The girls of varying levels of disposability. Some smart quip after a pretty gruesome death. The Bond formula is so well-defined by now that sceptics could repeat it from memory. However, now there's another key element of the blueprint that's gone from optional to essential - references. While Craig's films have had a more back-to-basics approach, dispensing with the sillier franchise elements and grounding the events in reality, to appease long-standing fans there's still be lots of shout-outs to the classic films. After some hiccups in this regard (Casino Royale went too far away for some, even nixing the classic theme, while the Oilfinger scene in Quantum Of Solace was just bizarre), Skyfall hit a perfect balance - still grounded, but able to embrace the legacy. Spectre takes that and unfortunately pushes it too much. Here the references aren't just part of backdrop for fans to delight about - they are essential to understanding what's going on. The plot relies on having followed the adventures of each of Craig's previous and the whole ideology behind Spectre is only ever vaguely spelled out (there's not even an attempt to explain that their name is acronym), assuming you know the details already. If you don't come in with fifty years of knowledge, then you're given very little in terms of actual motivation or story behind the globe-trotting.
