With Mendes’ tony cachet once more in place (minus the co-piloting of revered d.p. The franchise may have been a consistent performer over 53 years, but never before has it been saddled with the prestige-pic expectations that the new film is now notionally expected to meet. The series-crowning crossover success of “Skyfall” three years ago - yielding not just $1 billion worldwide but breathless reviews, two Oscars and even a BAFTA for best British film - places “Spectre” in a tricky returning position. awaits, though it remains to be seen whether the “Skyfall” is the limit. A wealth of iconography - both incidental and integral - from the series’ founding chapters is revived here, making “Spectre” a particular treat for 007 nerds, and a businesslike blast for everyone else. What’s missing is the unexpected emotional urgency of “Skyfall,” as the film sustains its predecessor’s nostalgia kick with a less sentimental bent. Sam Mendes’ second consecutive Bond outing again passes its physical with flying colors: Ricocheting from London to Rome to Morocco across action sequences of deliriously daft extravagance, the pic accumulates a veritable Pompeii of mighty, crumbling structures. It’s a statement that could be viewed as a pre-emptive spoiler, a sly double-bluff or a swaggering boast from a death-defying franchise that, following the soaring success of “Skyfall,” couldn’t be in ruder health.

“The dead are alive” are the very first words printed onscreen in “ Spectre,” the 24th and far-from-last James Bond adventure.

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