Bond figures out "who he is"

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2006)

It was a good Bond movie. This is indeed the very first days of Bond's "double oh" days. He hasn't yet established who he is: attitude, motivations, preferences, etc. It's very intriguing to hear how bond orders his drinks in this movie. And his choice of cars. And how he deals with danger.
There was some really good action in this flick, with the typical running, leaping, crashing, hard driving, things blowing up, etc. If you were afraid this would be a more sensitive film, rest your fears. It is, but it doesn't sacrifice action to do it.
Not giving anything away, but when Bond is captured and the bad guy begins his torture, there are no empty threats. Bond takes some abuse... enough to make the audience groan audibly. This was the grittiest part of the film.
There are some lines and events in this film that brought out satisfying laughter in the audience.
There were also a couple of unexpected events that caused me to jump a bit, primarily because the sound punctuated the action very effectively.
I'm a tough critic, and I give this 8/10 stars.