Back to basics

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2006)

This latest James Bond adventure is truly one of the all time best. Going all the way to the original source, Casino Royale, the first novel written about the super British Agent.
The story is great and the best since 1987's The Living Daylights. This is a real spy story, with many red herrings and plot twists and you're never really sure who the real bad guy is. And despite many truly magnificent action set pieces this is actually one of the more earth bound Bond flicks around.
Daniel Craig is great as Bond. He looks the part, certainly built for it and displays a wide range of emotions giving the character more depth than Brosnan and certainly Roger Moore ever did. And that just makes him more human. He even makes mistakes here and grave misjudgments of situations and is physically and emotionally bruised. A bold move but the right one as the series was certainly heading into oblivion with just another one of those pesky indestructible characters who save the world with not a scratch on them.
Going back to basics; covering the origin of Bond, makes for a possible great new run for the series and the story here certainly lays solid ground for the next entry. Some trademarks are present but in alternate form and some aren't and, to be honest, I didn't miss them. New dimensions are added for Bond and the series and it all looks great.
Can't wait for the next one.