Very Interesting To See The Comments Of Those Here Well Versed In Bond (SPOILERS) --

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2006)

-- Because, I pretty much echo them. This is a terrific first half of a movie, with a flawed -- yet still hugely enjoyable -- second half.
When I heard the Chris Cornell tune, I absolutely hated it...having listened to it over and over, I have to say that it's perfectly matched to the movie, and really somewhat memorable. And the title graphics: wow. There've been overblown -- and often ridiculous -- titles in Bond movies over the last few decades, but these completely capture the 60s theme completely. I loved them.
Craig is fantastic. Dalton was my favorite for presenting the Bond of the book (everyone will always say Connery, but Fleming's Bond was flawed and not quite so obviously stand-out as Connery; and Lazenby could have been fantastic were he given a movie that matched his persona), but after viewing the movie only once so far, I'd say that Dalton may be relegated to my second place.
Congrats to David Arnold for providing a score that does what it should have done years ago -- emulate Barry while at the same time being up to date in tone. (Although a caveat for people who buy the score through iTunes for all the extra tracks: if you're outside the United States, you're totally out of luck: you can't buy the bonus tracks. I don't know how people in the rest of the world are legitmately supposed to be able to acquire this "filler".) LeChiffre is a great villain. Vesper is an interesting femme, with the whole "doomed girl" Bond Girl thing quite clearly modelled after Tracey in "OHMSS".
If there are problems with the movie, they're in the actual execution. As others have pointed out, Paul Haggis' dialogue is often undisciplined and rambling, and many scenes (Campbell's fault) could have been reined-in, perhaps losing 5-10 minutes of running time. I thought the card games at Casino Royale were as dull as anything seen on actual televised poker (barely no scoring, no build-up of tension).
A few missed moments: although the early Aston Martin acquisition is nice, after Bond driving rental (!) early on, it would have been nice to have seen his eyes light up when given the new Aston.
And was there ANYONE who didn't guess Bond's transfer password? I fully expected the instant LeChiffre saw him type it in, that he'd nab the case and simply do it himself.
A great first outing for Craig. Let's hope Barbara Broccoli doesn't blow it with further outings.
And for the love of God: use the actual title "Property Of A Lady" sometime soon!