Best Bond for 40 years

Rating: 10/10 (6 December 2006)

A wonderful, hard hitting thriller that takes Bond back to the great years of the early 60s. If you liked the Connery movies you will love this although equally if you thought the Roger Moore movies were the height of the series (and God help you if you did) then you are in for a big disappointment. Gone are the inane names (Miss Goodthighs, Onatop etc), the ridiculous gadgets (a gondola turning into a hovercraft in Moonraker for goodness sake) and the double entendres which were stylish and risqué 40 years ago but which recently in a more graphic age have been just dreadful and embarrassing (there is humour but it is dry, ironic and perfectly matched to the scene).
Daniel Craig, like Connery before him, actually looks like he is up to it all physically. In short he is hard, nasty and dangerous (Moore was about as dangerous as a damp Sunday afternoon in Skegness). Gone are the days of wondering which button of which Q issued toy Bond will press to get out of trouble. This Bond has to rely on his wits and fight for his life.
Eva Green is excellent and there is a genuine frisson between her and Craig in their scenes together which along with a fine script makes the development of their relationship both believable and touching.
If I had to criticise anything then the theme music is anodyne and instantly forgettable (where is John Barry when you need him) but the opening credits are excellent, updating the traditional Bond style whilst still paying homage to the past.
The few people out there who have criticised the movie and Craig as Bond have all come from essentially the same position i.e. they want lots of stunts, ludicrous Batman style gadgets, buxom blondes and stuff any idea of plot, character development or genuine danger. Well let's leave them to their cartoons. Quite frankly the fact that they don't like the movie is as good a reason for going to see it as any of the praise I and others can heap on it.
At long last the Bond for the new millennium.