Discovering bond all over again

Rating: 9/10 (8 June 2009)

If the James Bond franchise had to be rebooted, this was the way to do it.
Daniel Craig gives the character a sense of deadliness not sensed since the Timothy Dalton days. As much as I liked Connery, Moore, and Brosnan, and all delivered good performances, none of them seemed like sudden death with a bad attitude. For a government assassin, such an attitude would be helpful.
Daniel Craig sells that attitude convincingly. From the very start where he coolly terminates a traitor, to the very end where shoots a foe through the leg when it is clear he didn't have to, you know this Bond is cool about the job of dealing death.
The movie itself? I think of it as three movies in one. It starts as an action flick, segues into a cool spy mode with a very relaxed and long lasting poker tournament, and then gets back to the action again.
Although this movie does have scenes that remind you of the book, it is not a close cover of the book in the way the first few Connery movies were.
Althogether quite enjoyable, and closer to the way I perceived Bond as I read the books than most of the other Bond actors managed.