Classic "Classic" Bond...87.5/100

Rating: 9/10 (6 October 2010)

22nd of 23 Bond movies (21st of 22 official Bond movies)
Daniel Craig makes his debut as James Bond, agent 007. In fact, this movie starts the franchise from scratch...it's actually a prequel...to a time before when James Bond actually had a licence to kill. The odd mixture of new elements and returning elements make it exist in a twilight zone world, like all the other Bond movies. By that I mean it's impossible to view all of the Bond movies and find coherence in them. This movie shows solidarity with the Brosnan era Bond (by the presence of a female M) and with the unofficial Sean Connery as Bond movie "Never say never again" (by the presence of a black Felix Leiter).
Anyway, Craig makes for a serious Bond and the absence of Q and Moneypenny in this debut is a promising start...I felt that by Dalton's time as Bond, the balance between seriousness and lightness was too much in favour of the latter, especially by the presence of Q and his gadgets. This is back to basics Bond, and it is done in a modern style, surpassing Connery's first forays with this character.
I'm giving this movie 87.5/100. Just deducting a little bit from it for two reasons...one: it's a long movie; two: there is a great deal of focus on the game of poker here. Personally, I enjoyed this, but for people who are bored silly by this game or just don't understand it, I'm sure they could find it terminally dull for long stretches.
Exotic locations: Czech Republic (thus placing the restart of this franchise in a post-Cold War era), Uganda, Madagascar, Bahamas, USA, Venice in Italy.
Plot: MI6 is trying to find out how a network of terrorist groups is financed. A person by the name of Le Chiffre is central to this...he acts as a reliable banker to 'freedom fighters' (i.e. dictators and the like). When Le Chiffre proves less than reliable, he quickly needs to recover the money he lost, lest he be pursued by disgruntled African dictators. To that end, he organises a high-stakes no-limit poker game...with the hope of winning it himself (sounds foolproof, right?). Bonds spots an opportunity to mess things up for him...if he knock Le Chiffre out of the game, he may leave Le Chiffre with no option but to seek sanctuary with MI6...in exchange for information on the organisation that MI6 is so ignorant of...his own.
Franchise clichés:
Pre-title sequence -
Black and white MGM lion; black and white Columbia animation. The action proper is black and white too. Odd, because the action takes place after the time frame of most Bond movies, although it does serve to hark back to the 'classic' era of movies...even though no Bond movie was ever in black and white! Anyway, this action shows how Bond acquires his "00" status and defines what actually constitutes "00" status as well. You then get the iconic gun barrel sequence, which, for the first time ever, is tied to the action proper. A nice touch.
Theme song -
"You know my name" by Chris Cornell and David Arnold. Cornell sings. Has a retro feel to it...sort of like a Rat Pack kind of song (perhaps). The accompanying visuals are unique to the franchise and interesting. You also hear the famous Bond theme at the end of the movie...since you associate that with the agent licenced to kill, it would perhaps be inappropriate to play it at the start of the movie...before he has actually earned that status.
Q -
As with "Dr. No" - the first official Bond movie - there is no appearance by this character. I really hope that Craig's time is marked by the absence of this character...give him a bit of a rest and reinvigorate the franchise.
M -
Another odd casting choice...Judi Dench continues in the role from the preceeding Bond, Pierce Brosnan. It doesn't really make sense as far as the franchise as a whole goes, but if you forget that, it's fine. Some nice exchanges with Bond, including: M - "Bond, this maybe too much for a blunt instrument to understand but arrogance and self-awareness seldom go hand in hand"...Bond - "So you want me to be half monk, half hit-man?". An element of this movie is M's lack of trust of Bond and his methods.
Moneypenny -
Another welcome absence from the franchise. The only time they were remotely interesting was in Lazenby's and Brosnan's time as Bond. However, there is a neat allusion to her: Vesper - "I'm the money"...Bond - "Every penny of it".
Silly female character names - Vesper. Bond remarks on it. Her relationship with Bond is one of the superior ones of the franchise...I like their cat and mouse ways with each other. A noteworthy relationship for Bond, as far as character and dialogue go...almost up there with Lazenby's Bond and Tracy di Vicenzo.
Sexism/misogyny - Can't say that I noticed any. That seemed to end with Roger Moore's reign as Bond, I believe.
Wine buffery -
Interestingly, when he orders a "vodka martini" and the waiter asks him "shaken or stirred?", you could knock me over with a feather if Bond doesn't say "Do I look like I give a damn?"! Another line for the buffs...Bond says - "A dry martini. Wait. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet, shake it over ice, and then add a thin slice of lemon peel". Did you get that? Would sir like a parasol on that? Yeah...I'll just have what he's having! Hmm...on reflection, I'm not sure that he wouldn't give a damn about whether his vodka martini was stirred or shaken. The lemon peel has an interesting name...one that Bond gives to it. No clues!