Daniel is no monkey

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2006)

First and foremost this is a really good film, only one thing prevented it from being a GREAT film, still watch it at the cinema! The pre-opening sequences reminded me of Agent 47 from the game Hit-man, cool stylish, well designed, thought about and stunning. Next the opening sequences, gone are the dancing girls behind crappy lights; even as an avid bond fan I was glad to see them make a complete refreshing change. The action is jaw dropping and on from the get go, Daniel's acting and stylish personal touches make Pierce Brosnan look like a monkey that could talk. Gone are the cheesy one liners and 19 year old girls for an ageing lesario, For your eyes only... ugh! Gone are the chest wigs and the unbearable idea of women finding Bond irresistible, as well as the carry-on style names like "IVona Humpalot". Gone are the old rubbish jokes there are new ones which are actually funny! Gone are the stupid women (Denise Richards) and really crappy gadgets (invisible Aston). Daniel comes out of the sea like Ursula Andress and all the women in the cinema were as wet as October. People get shot, stabbed and bond gets hurt, when did Roger Moore ever put a hair out of place when fighting the giant Jaws? This film relied on brilliant acting and great plot lines. Forget the negative reviews from people who said they couldn't follow it; a trained monkey could follow it. The downsides include little things missing, like no air bags in the smashed £250,000 Aston Martin, no acting ability in Eva Green and no one shouting stop when Bond says "I love you"... STOP!!! Yes people Bond falls in love. Now up until the start of this sequence you had me in awe and I was giving this film 10, then some dumb schmuck thought it would be great to not only introduce some love scenes but a marriage proposal as well.... UH? This is James Bond for god sake, take two lovelies into the shower? No I just shag and go! This monstrosity not only destroyed the illusion you get from being engrossed in a fantastic film but board me sh*tless because like Monty Python I wanted to say "GET ON WITH IT!" after what seemed an eternity. It was like watching Pride and Prejudice and half expected Jeremy Beadle to enter the cinema telling me it was a joke! When that rubbish was out the way the film tried to get us back into the mood but the moment had gone. Some good stunts and rubbish CGI of a falling building and as an evil person would you really have two, yes 2!, henchmen with dodgy eyes because low and behold we met the 2nd one... what are the chances of that happening? The one bit that ruined this film - the last twenty minutes, such a let down. Good but so close to being great.