Shaken and Extremely Well Stirred

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2006)

The movie begins in classic form, in black and white, by classic I mean more of the Orson Welles kind, where a man isolated from the rest of the world is forced to confront his destiny, darkly and tragically, there is a sense of fatalism and Bond knows it.
Once sealed, he must now deliver, as M reminds him coldly throughout the movie. The movie is brutal and honest, it is the story of the maturation of a man, from a human being into a cold blooded killer, gone are the the bohemian and debonair qualities of James Bond we have come to identify, replaced with an almost noble, serious and Spartan nature. He still seeks the thrills, but now we see a determination, a seriousness, an obsession with the job. He must purge from his soul any remnants of compassion, human love, vulnerability and the idea of pain and suffering, if he wants to become what he must become.
In the processes of this development, he finds in Vesper Lynd a woman like him, who seems strong on the outside but soft, mysterious and vulnerable inside. He is fascinated and is drawn to her beauty and charm, against his will, this is the test M was waiting for, coldly. He displays all the weaknesses of a man in love, at his own cost and peril, the relationship is doomed from the beginning, tragic and flawed, like Bond himself.
I found the first half of the movie fascinating, well executed, more in the nature of an Alistair McLain novel, where our hero, blue in color, ruthless and not perfect, who does sometimes get beaten and bloodied, and in the criminal elements, who live in the shadows, complex and mysterious. The action and dialogue is slow and deliberate. I was moved and saddened by the developments of the relationship between Bond and Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, there is a wonderful chemistry between the two of them, she is beautiful and enchanting, fragile but brave, even though her accent seems a little over the top. But it is Daniel Craig who dominates , he is the perfect instrument or tool, molded and hammered to perfection in this process of transformation.
He has a physical presence that dominates and overpowers the screen, his eyes and face are extremely expressive, they can display the coldness and hardness of a killer, but at the same time express love, tenderness, compassion, anger and suffering with equal ease, especially with those blue eyes. He is the Sex Symbol and not the women, with an old fashioned air about him. The somewhat perfect man, aggressive and vulnerable at the same time (please excuse, for I am not sure that I am able to express my thoughts regarding this subject with any understanding), strong, both physically and mentally, but gentle and protective, unafraid to express his feeling, generous and willing to sacrifice for love. Qualities that most women are forever seeking in their other half, but rarely find, an eternal and futile quest, except of course in fantasy and at a theater near you.
As the relationship between, Vesper Lynd and Bond develops and the focus shifts, the main plot and the action seem forgotten, making it difficult to understand and follow the love story at the same time. One is left confused by it all ( Or it could just be my imagination working over time again). Given the time constraints it is understandable, but if a movie starts of this good, the story must be allowed to be completed properly and to its fullest, no matter how long it takes, after all Gone With Wind was long and people still loved it. Maybe, we are too consumed by the idea of instant gratification and the idea of a 2 hour time constraint may be ingrained in our systems. I am sure in the East they would loved it even more if it had been long, since it is common for movies to run 3 hours and more.
In the end one hopes that in the next movie, if Daniel Craig comes back to play Bond, they will not forget to put him through the similar conflicts and struggles, the cold hearted killer and the flawed lover of beautiful women, so important to Bond's personality. Further, in a disturbing sort of way, there is not much that separates arch villain La Criffe, cold and lifeless, and James Bond Licensed to Kill, one works to save the world, the other to destroy it, but both use deception and extreme violence to achieve their ends, both have beautiful women whom they seem to care for. So if both were to swap jobs, the objectives would change but the means by which they are achieved would remain the same. Finally it is interesting to note that in the box office race, people seem to prefer the Animated Happy Feet to Casino Royale.