Movie of the Year!

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2006)

The question burning on everyone's lips has to be, is it any good?
The answer is quite simply is  yes.
The plot of the film is simple enough. Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen) sets up a high stakes poker game in Montenegro to raise the funds necessary to pay back a debt owed to terrorists he once had dealings with. Bond (Craig) is sent on his first major assignment as '00' agent to ensure that Le Chiffre is not successful in winning the game, thus sending him into hiding and allowing MI6 to grant him asylum in exchange for vital information about the terrorist community at large. The flip side however is that if Bond loses the game to Le Chiffre, he and the British Government will become directly responsible for funding terrorism.
The pace of the film glides along from start to finish so well that you remain completely unaware of the two hours and forty-five minutes that have just passed. The direction seems almost completely flawless and certain pieces of cinematography are almost breathtaking. From the scenes filmed in the Bahamas to the chique surroundings of the Casino itself, even a glimpse of the lavish apartment of 'M', the locations chosen really bring to life the world of Bond. The fight scenes and car work have clearly had a great deal of time and effort put into the choreography and eventual filming, and both entertain with spectacular results, this time going as far as to be somewhat chilling in nature (Look out for a torture scene with a broken chair that really did strain the boundaries of the 12A rating!). The usual element of charm and wit has not been forgotten either though, especially in a very memorable scene which shows us the invention of the famous "Vodka-Martini, shaken not stirred".
But the real joys of the film are the people. Scripted in a believable manner the characters are truly 'brought to life'. Craig in my opinion is without a doubt the best Bond since Sean Connery, and in some ways he even surpasses his predecessor. His general appearance along with his calm and often cold demeanour is perfectly fit to what we would expect of a hardened spy/assassin and thus far is the closest to the James Bond of the original Ian Fleming novels. It's also nice to see the origins of 007 and to see what makes him 'tick'. We get to see a glimpse of the reality of what he does and even gain an understanding of his sexist nature towards women. Mads Mikkelsen is superb as Le Chiffre, the almost emotionless compulsive gambler, and lest we not forget the Bond girl, Vesper Lynd. Eva Green gives a wonderful performance in her role and the chemistry between Lynd and Bond is nice enough to watch. I have to say the best on-screen couple though is without a doubt Bond and M, as this outing gives us a much clearer view of the relationship we saw so little of in the previous films.
Overall this film has surpassed itself in that it made a bold step reinventing the franchise and actually came out as one of the best of the entire series. Bond is back ladies and gentlemen, and he's back to stay. And for all you non-believers out there, Daniel Craig IS Bond, James Bond!
Ronson's Rating: 9/10 - Movie of the year!
To read more of my reviews, please visit my blog-site at http:\\filmcell.wordpress.com