Mathis

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2006)

I just finished watching the film a second time, and I still don't get why Bond is suspicious of Mathis immediately after Vesper leaves the dinner table. There seems to be no real "clue" to the audience as to why Bond suddenly rushes out after Vesper.
Additionally, when Mathis visits Bond shortly thereafter asking questions, he gets tasered by 2 unnamed individuals, presumably fellow members of MI6. But its not clear when Bond told MI6 of his suspicion of Mathis. I suppose the audience could take it on faith that Bond must have communicated this, but the scene seemed oddly out of place without any "setup" as to, OK, this is the point where Mathis gets his. I think it would have been better to have Mathis as Lynd's point of contact in Venice, surprising the audience and making it clear that Mathis was with the bad guys.
As a minor quibble, I also didn't like the way Vesper is immediately in the locked cage in the building during the final scenes. You don't know why she's in the cage, why she decides she'd rather die than tell James the truth. I would have preferred some exposition as to why she acted the way she did at the end -- the little story M provides seemed tacked on and insufficient to understand Lynd's motives.