Verges on being a miniseries

Rating: 6/10 (7 March 2007)

A fresh and original take on the Bond franchise sputters and then stalls because it is simply too, too, too long. It's actually about two-and-a-half Bond movies rolled into one, but I didn't feel like I was getting a bargain. A spy thriller can stay exciting for 90 minutes at most. This one weighs in at 144 minutes. I saw the ambiguous betrayal coming and by then I was bored, so I wasn't forgiving of the fact that I could see it coming. I just wanted the movie to be over.
Bond fans should know that the violence in this movie is intense and graphic and at times downright disturbing to watch. This isn't a kid-safe movie.
For the most part, Daniel Craig is terrific in the role. I liked the fact that they didn't make this a gadget-driven movie. And the sets and scenes were sharp and invigorating. The poker game, however, lagged and dragged. I felt like I sat through all 72 hours of it. And James Bond playing Texas Hold 'Em? That particular update jarred, for me. When I think of Texas Hold 'Em, I think of the creepy guys playing on ESPN. It was kind of like seeing James Bond throwing horseshoes.
The villain looked like something from a Nikelodeon show. They made Bond a far more believable, flesh-and-blood character. Apparently they decided to compensate by making the villain even more cartoonish than usual. Beyond that, it turned out that the "villain" of this movie was just a front for another villain, who in turn was a front for another villain. So everything that happened in the first 90 minutes was just a setup for what came after. It wasn't worth it. Either the "setup" should be the whole movie, or it should be trimmed down to 9 or 10 minutes, and the "real" villain should take center stage.
The final scene, with the final line, definitely snapped me back awake again, and ranks as one of the best teasers for a sequel I've ever seen. But I doubt that I'll see the sequel.
Too, too, too long.