007 saves the world from bad guys, again (yawn).

Rating: 2/10 (17 November 2006)

The shoot by numbers formula for this tired franchise is showing its age. The latest installment may resonate with old aficionados and boys who have not yet become addicted to the multitude of electronic options in the 'out there'. Yes, the mainstays are still there: the fetching women, the motherly boss as hen-in-chief, the picture postcard pretty locations, fast cars speeding along busy streets, pockmarked villains... Absent are the outragous and fanciful tools of the trade: has reality caught up with imagination or the writers lack the latter? The new 007, played by the beefed up Daniel Craig, takes himself far to seriously. The charm of the previous incarnations came from the quick wit uttered with a nudge-nudge and a wink- wink. Brains vs brawn was the reason for 007's success among the flaccid plodders tied to a lifetime on the office chain gang. The franchise owners ought to go out into the real world more often: the Sixties are no more. The world is older by two generations and the mores have changed: rethink or retire The Agent.