The silenced Walther compact pistol. Intense hand-to-hand combat. Unexpected technology. Romantic endeavors with women with “shaken not stirred” martini, followed by that familiar visit to Q and his boss, M.

   Yes, there was a famous action hero before Matt Damon’s Bourne movies, and that can only be one person. Daniel Craig returns in his fourth outing as James Bond in “007: Spectre” (Metro Goldwyn Mayer), now available in theaters.

    Similar to Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry character in 1976’s “The Enforcer,” Bond finds his actions at the beginning of the film suspending him from his job indefinitely. M, his boss (played by Ralph Fiennes), had 007 injected with nanotechnology to track his movements so he does not try to “investigate” things as only Bond can.

      “Spectre” tries to dodge some of the usual, ugly clichés of action movie damsel-in-distress formula, and it does with a number of surprises from really old Bond movies. Let’s start with the most apparent one and put this review on hold for a moment: the front of the movie’s poster, a top-hatted man with a skeleton costume, rung firstly in my mind a villain from the Roger Moore 007 outing “Live and Let Die,” which consisted of such a character, Baron Samedi, as a secondary character. Samedi makes no appearance in this film other than the aforementioned cryptic poster.

     Back to the review. There are a few major twists and turns in this one that are in places you will not see coming. It is a little tricky to review this one without going too far, but here is a synopsis for you: after receiving that message from his past, Bond goes after the daughter of that messenger in a dramatic, action-filled quest to protect her at all costs from a shady organization known only as “Spectre.”

   Meanwhile, Craig’s Bond starts to show us more depth of his character than something like the average “Quantum of Solace” or the slightly confusing “Casino Royale,” so the script is obviously trying to breathe some life into the British agent. And it works, for the most part.

     I have to honor this movie’s intense action (intense to that the organization which rates movies describe it as “intense violence”), reminiscence, car chase between expensive cars, exploding gadgets, and Bond’s refreshing depth. Since I have always used the 4 star scale, I find it a fun enough movie to give 3 stars to. But the movie’s rather predictable ending a small plot hole stop me from giving it more…and wondering if its director, Sam Mendes, has the ability to stay on track with his interesting take on Bond, James Bond.

    For the easygoing Bond fanatic, “Spectre” will likely please the crowds.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Spectre facts:

Release: November 6

Time: 2 hours 28 minutes

Production company: Columbia Pictures

Starring: Daniel Craig, Cristoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, and Jesper Christensen

Director: Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty)