Excellent prequel

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2006)

This is the 21st James Bond movie & they decided to do like several other franchises , such as Batman Begins & Superman Returns , have done lately ; go back to the beginning & tell how our hero started out . Daniel Craig , from Lara Croft:Tomb Raider & Road to Perdition , plays a rougher , grittier Bond . There are lots of action sequences with more running & just plain physical action , than in most Bond movies . The fight scenes are brutal & realistically staged . You see Bond's first kills , that make him eligible for his '00' status . Judi Dench returns , or I guess you could say begins , as 'M' . Mads Mikkelsen , from King Arthur , plays the villain . Eva Green , from Kingdom of Heaven , is a Bond girl & Jeffrey Wright , from Ali , plays Felix Leiter . You see how Bond gets his first Aston Martin & it's not from Her Majesty's Secret Service . You also see what helps shape Bond into the Super-Spy that he later becomes . There are several 'nods' to Bond staples , such as the Martini that he favors shaken , not stirred . There are not a lot of gadgets , since there isn't a 'Q' yet . The only time it slows down is during the card game . There is also a torture scene that is faithful to the original book & very difficult for most men to watch . Overall , I really enjoyed it & I can't wait until it's available on DVD .