Bond is back on track

Rating: 7/10 (26 November 2006)

By far the best Bond film in years. Following the degeneration of Roger Moore, the Living Daylights was a reinvigoration of the Bond genre, with Timothy Dalton delivering a grimmer, more humourless Bond. Critics did not receive the two Dalton movies well, and after a prolonged period, Director Martin Campbell was brought on scene to deliver Pierce Brosnan into our midst with Goldeneye. Following the over-blown and steady crap of the next two Brosnan movies, whose Bond seemed to meld a hardened exterior with a very campy Moore-like humour, Martin Campbell is counted on once again to deliver a Bond film that will engage viewers, maintain the themes we all enjoy about this character, and tell a story that is relevant for this day and age. Cutting much of the chaff of invisible cars and zip lines hidden in belt buckles, Bond must utilize his wits and skill at arms to maintain the aim of stopping a global terrorist banking syndicate from becoming a major player on the world stage. The villain is ruthless in how he conducts business, torturing and bribing his way through his affairs. He displays sinister physical characteristics often attributed to Bond villains, but still remains fallible, in that is seen several times throughout the movie that there is always a bigger fish. Bond himself, as portrayed by Daniel Craig, is a secret agent in the making, grappling with what his soul is worth compared to the service of Queen and country. His arrogance now has consequences that he must atone for, and shows that years of super secret training can still lead to mistakes that must be answered for, and then corrected. The heroine comes with a name that is both intriguing, but not vulgarly expressive, although even this Bond theme is poked fun at as part of the well written dialogue. Her initial exchange with Bond more than cements herself within the movie, showing that there are places for strong female leads in these sorts of movies, as seen earlier in Bourne Identity. Martin Campbell weaves all of this with three major action scenes that are impressive to behold in their complexity and obvious difficulty for both the actors/stunt-men and the cinematography to properly capture it. Failings of this movie are few, but some are obvious, primarily in several shameless product placements for Sony, and another for Omega watches. Also, despite the lack of major gadgetry, there still could have been more originality in Bond's spy gear. Him holding a PDA showing him navigation to his destination is nothing new today, and something a bit more showy, like a watch laser or pocket rebreather would have been welcomed. Nonetheless, the two and a half hours will be well spent by anyone so inclined to give this newest Bond and newest movie a chance.