Yay

Rating: 8/10 (30 November 2006)

First Bond I saw was "Thunderball," in 1965 at age 7 (still wonder what possessed my mom to let me and my little sister go to the matinée to see that one). Have been a fan since, through thick and thin, but I was thisclose to giving up on the series after seeing Madonna and an invisible car featured in the last one.
They have me back. Craig is as close to Fleming's Bond as I've ever seen - even more so than Dalton. He's a thug, a hired assassin who works for us, but could just as easily succeed on the other side. His manners and politesse are merely the veneer that allows him the access he needs to do his job - again, much as Fleming described him. Plus, for once the guy has a physique that looks like he could possibly be pulling off the running, jumping, climbing, and hanging he's called on to do (c'mon - did you ever believe Brosnan or Moore would have had any chance in hand-to-hand combat on a ledge?) Here's hoping Eon goes back and remakes some of the earlier ones - "Spy Who Loved Me," "Diamonds are Forever," "Man with the Golden Gun" - that simply stole the title and nothing else from the books. It would be a treat to see real adaptations of the novels (albeit updated to the present day) done in the tone and fashion of this one.