Craig shines in good Bond

Rating: 8/10 (23 October 2008)

After being promoted to a 00, James Bond (Craig) heads on his first mission to find the man who is behind the worldwide terrorist market.
In his first role as the infamous British spy, Daniel Craig (Layer Cake) proved critics and fans wrong with a silent leading performance as Bond in a good action thriller.
Craig's portrayal of the spy is intriguing to observe throughout as he takes Bond to a different level. His silent and sophisticated charisma gives the character a beautiful mysterious edge which is a contrast to previous performances by Brosnan and Connery. Though brilliantly acted, this silent exterior takes away the humour from the character and the cheeky little puns and we only see the charm of the agent towards mid point.
As this is where the Bond series starts, Craig's portrayal is therefore spot on and we can gain a greater understanding of the character and it's motives with all those different women and the nature to not settle down and unleash his anger on the world, and is the most interesting to watch in an action packed but inaccurate plot.
Opening in a completely diverse way, we see Bond sitting in a chair waiting for a man to enter. Filmed in black and white, director Campbell takes Bond to a different level with the use of flashbacks and the sudden urgency of the plot as the title sequence appears and Chris Cornell's You Know My name plays. Not the best Bond song but a catchy and energetic rock song nonetheless.
As the colourful title sequence seizes we are thrust into a typical Bond world with guns, stunts and fast cars, though sadly without the gadgets. These familiar elements will please fans and viewers alike as we see miraculous stunt after stunt and pure adrenaline.
Eva Green (The Golden Compass) makes the best Bond girl for years and Mads Mikkelsen makes one of the most boring Bond Villains ever to grace the screen. But perhaps that is down to a tough and poor script.
To gain a better understanding of Bond's character, we could have been given a longer introduction before he was promoted to a double 00.
There are also long pauses without dialogue when it was required to gain a better understanding of the background to the villain Le Chiffre. The action and Craig's Bond makes up for these lapses, not to mention a great and bitter twist which leaves the viewer shocked and eager to see Quantum of Solace which opens soon and is tipped to be one of the biggest hits of the year, on this Ian Fleming's 100th birthday year.
Though this wasn't the best written Bond film the action and intensity keeps the plot lively with a great performance by Daniel Craig