What was that?

Rating: 4/10 (17 November 2006)

What? This film makes no sense. It's completely contrived. That it's an improvement on Die Another Day should be damning faint praise when it commits so many of the same crimes against the Bond franchise. Instead of terrible CG surfing we have (fashionably current) Parc Cor chase sequence, over an hour of (fashionably current) Texas hold-em and, as far as I can make out, no discernible ending. This is compounded by the most limp, unconvincing bond girl since, well... Halle Berry, but that's not the point! Vesper was supposed to be the love of his life, yet she (spoiler!) A. Wasn't actually in love with him. B. Betrayed him. C. Actually had another boyfriend who we belatedly learn was kidnapped by terrorists. (Poor guy, for all we know they've still got him) This was supposed to be a journey into why Bond is the way we know him to be, but he reacted pretty much the same at the beginning and end of the film to the deaths of the two bond girls. It was supposed to be gritty, yet it was just as sanitised as any Hollywood film with (for the most part) the realities of violence abandoned for spectacle. By adding one twist too many, the emotional impact on Bond is reduced to the point where the plot doesn't even make sense. Try not to think about the story too much. I did and look what happened. I can buy Dan Craig as Bond but the guy needs a better film than this to show his stuff. With foolish optimism, I look forward to the next one,
Oxo