Yesh mish money penny, yesssh.

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2006)

Firstly ..
I had to spend the first hour or so of this film working out a few things: The time period, the colour schemes, the directors camera work etc.
When M spoke to Bond about events after 9/11 I knew I could relax with the time period, and they were setting this Bond in our time as if none of the rest of them had happened. This partially forgave the annoying but expected sponsorship from the mostly Sony brand mobile/cell phones.
It is important to understand from the get go that this is not the suave and highly styalised Bond most of us have grown up to know and love. This is a gritty and in places hard hitting tale of the boy soldier becoming a 00.
Craig owns this film. Whilst the acting never falters from cast line up, it moves in and around his world with a steely eyed, yet not in human take on the darker side of the British secret service.
Indeed, it is possible to have some mild concern at some of the action sequences. Fighting on scaffolding high in the air is not un realistic; But dropping a good distance and landing without many broken bones is perhaps asking too much of an audience seeking Bond,and not the Bourne identity.
This film however, does turn from the steely eyed SAS type soldier to the first echoes of sophistication on the train with Bonds female counterpart. Here, the motion picture starts to have the elements we know and recognise bleed into it.
I won't give too much of the film away. This is certainly a must see, it's Bonds beginnings. It's certainly a far cry from the other Bond films, but this is not a bad thing.
Baby he's not the best just yet, but getting there fast.
7.5 out of ten