A whole new franchise for Bond.

Rating: 10/10 (6 December 2006)

The comparisons are inevitable. This Bond film is more like the Bourne Identity than it is like previous Bond films. And I, for one, like it.
I have always been a fan of the Bond films, but the tongue-in-cheek silliness and the improbably gadgets are a style that no longer fits with today's technology savvy public. This new, more "realistic" style is much more in tune with today's movie-watching audience.
It still has some improbable gadgets: The satellite technology and the computer database technology depicted is still far ahead of what is really in use. But not so outrageously so as to be distracting. Plus it is close enough to what other Hollywood films have shown, that many people actually believe that this kind of technology is actually in general use by world governments.
The most prominent gadget depicted in the movie, is the simple cell phone with text messaging. A gadget that most movie goers understand and many use on a daily basis. The movie also uses an Automatic Emergency Defibrulator (AED), a device that is found, these days, at most swimming pools and in most airlines. While this gadget has not been featured very prominently in movies, it is a real gadget that anyone can go down to the American Red Cross office and take a class.
The point being that this movie is set in current times using (mostly) technology that is here and now. This means a more plausible story, based on actual sleuthing and spy-craft.
This new Bond franchise breaks from the old. It's still based on Flemming's Bond, but in many ways is a wholly new franchise more faithful to the novels. I hope that they remake all of Ian Flemming's Bond novels in this new style.