Best Bond Since Goldfinger

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2006)

Got your attention?
I enjoyed the Moore films when I was a kid, and was impressed with the competence of Golden Eye when it came out, but for me, the real Bond movies were the first three, with From Russia With Love the top of the list. Goldfinger created a more fanciful style of Bond film which took over the franchise. Now, I'm not saying that was a bad thing. 007 becoming campy is what kept it alive for so many years. It's just bracing to see this film return to the vibe you get from reading Fleming's actual work. This is what CR has.
I read the book, which was the first ever novel, last summer. the key to the success of the film goes beyond how good Craig is, and how he lifts the game of everybody around him ( look at how interested Dame Judy Dench seems all of a sudden). It's how the filmmakers have expanded the novel into exciting 007 spectacle (with the construction site chase at the top and the collapsing Venice building at the end super effective), without betraying the powerful, and moody tale that Fleming was trying to tell when he introduced the character. all the emotional beats of the book are retained, even in flashy new surroundings. And Eva Green is pretty fab, too.
It's 20 minutes too long, but it's ballsy, the way this film wants wants it all...the action and the drama. they come close to pushing their luck a dozen times, but it all works out pretty damn well. In the end, it takes the same risks that OHMSS took, but in a far more successful manner.
I'm not a real action or spy movie fanatic, so my 8 really is a 10 for the genre.