best recent Bond, but flawed

Rating: 6/10 (28 November 2006)

The new Bond is great (he's not a pretty boy) and Dench is outstanding as always. The emphasis on character as well as plot was definitely a good idea. This is hugely better than recent Bond flicks which probably accounts for all the great reviews. Fun to watch BUT the editing was no good. There are scenes that don't belong and there are missing scenes. There are also plot holes. It's a shame. A little more work on tightening up the plot and it would have been terrific.
The acting is good, the sex is unfortunately only fair. The action is a bit frenetic as always in recent Bond movies (whatever happened to suspenseful action a la Goldfinger). The violence is sometimes extreme. Personally I think the movie should be rated R for the violence but the MPAA morons seem to think horrific violence is fine for children but god forbid they should see a nipple.