Good Bond, Mediocre Movie

Rating: 4/10 (20 November 2006)

I must admit I'd fallen for all the hype and the positive reviews and to be fair I think the rave reviewers have got it right to a certain extent with regard to the performance of Daniel Craig - given what he had to work with, I think he did a good job and he has a lot of potential for future James Bond outings - as long as the current script writers are fired. I understand why some people on IMDb are upset with the absence of the usual Bond franchise stalwarts - from the gun barrel to Q, his gadgets and Miss Moneypenny - and I can forgive that in the interests of setting up "the birth of Bond as a 00 agent" (even with all the problems that have been mentioned by many other reviewers - 'M' being played by Judi Dench etc. etc.). However, I can't forgive another unimaginative script from Purvis & Wade (even the addition of Paul Haggis couldn't help this one). I never thought I'd walk out of a James Bond film and bemoan the lack of action sequences - although the set pieces are well done, the pacing of the rest of the film in between the action scenes makes you yearn for something to actually happen. And don't get me started on the music. I feel like personally sending David Arnold an award recognising his efforts in producing the all time worst score for a James Bond film. I am getting so fed up with his "screeching trumpets syndrome" scores, there is no originality in his work and even his occasional renditions of the James Bond theme are lacklustre at best. Please Please Please David Arnold, just go away I beg you and take Purvis & Wade with you to the same island! On the positive side, I believe that with a great script Daniel Craig does have the potential to be a great James Bond in the future and there is enough here from his performance to at least justify seeing the film. Before he died in 1996, Albert R. Broccoli's last words to Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli regarding the Bond franchise were "Don't F*** it Up!"....the jury's still out, I'm afraid!