Not the worst Bond film, but not the best

Rating: 4/10 (29 December 2006)

I've been a Bond fan for over 30 years, both books and movies. I've heard a lot of comments that this Bond is much truer to the Bond book mythos than the other recent films. This is somewhat true. In the book, Bond is gritty, somewhat cold, somewhat brutal. HOWEVER, THAT'S NOT WHY I SEE BOND MOVIES!! Bond MOVIES are about fun escapes to exotic locales, villains and heroes who are bigger than life, great humor, good gadgets, pulse-pounding action, and aspirations to do something much bigger and better than most people are called to. At this, this movie is a complete flop. Bond is cold, brutal, unfeeling. He does not enjoy good or bad times. He uses men and women as tools and toys. He finally starts to care for a character, but you don't know why. The villain is entirely uninspiring, the movie is WAAAAY too long, there are no gadgets to speak of, the action sequences are so long and unbelievable they make Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon look like a Discovery Channel documentary.
***SPOILER ALERT
There is a torture scene that, although brief, has ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE in my vision of a Bond film. Unfortunately, the torture scene merely continues the torture that this movie was to me.
I desperately wanted to enjoy this movie. I was simultaneously scared and bored.
Too bad.