Make way for MR. CRAIG.

Rating: 9/10 (8 December 2006)

As a die  hard bond fan, when I went to see this movie first day first show, the anxiety was not to see a brand new bond movie, but it was to watch Mr. Craig perform. Right from the point where he was pronounced the new bond, there have been two groups of people. One said this was not good. He just did not seem right. And another was of just opposite opinion. I and my wife were of the first opinion and I was very eager to see that I was right.
To my surprise, right from the first frame, it was clear that Mr. Craig has hit the mark and we were wrong. Though, the beginning of the film in black and white is of no meaning and has some strange impact, as the film proceeds, it takes the fans to a roller-coaster ride with state of the art chase and fight scenes. After the end of the opening sequence, I was just asking my self one question.." Who was that man Bond was chasing? Was he made of rubber?" Unlike any other bond films, this time, the bond is real. His feet are on the ground. There are no gadgets. At least, they are limited. Bond is portrayed as human with human strengths and fight scenes are more realistic than any bond movie. I mean, I could hardly believe that Roger Moore was quick enough to beat the knife  killer from Circus in OCTOPUSSY.
Fans were not sure this time of what to expect. Even in the promos, the care had been taken by the team that they don't reveal the actual content of the film. We all went to see brand new gadgets and brand new bond, and we got only one.
How do you describe James Bond? I say, MR. 100%. Everything about him is 100%. He is 100% lucky, 100% fit, 100% handsome and bla blaa character that we all know could not be in real. And we all pretend to at least behave like sometimes in our lives.
You will find nothing of above in our new bond. He gets hurt, his face has bruises this time, M has a little or no admiration for him and she goes to a point where we could fell she has extreme dislike for him. His girl friend/s are both not so attractive and sexy this time and he uses mobile phones like us. Very well on the ground.
What is amazing about this is that he still does it. We still get that rush that we used to get while watching any other bond flick. Could you imagine any bother bond climbing a plane ladder and jumping on the truck, and still it looks real? Naaah.
Sean Connery is still THE BOND, but being physically super fit and chasing the bad guys on the feet like Jackie Chan, were not one of the virtues of bond. Roger Moore, George Lanzby, Dalton and Brosnanall are superb, no doubt about it. But no one could do it like Mr. Craig. With due respect, imagine Bronson running at a full speed like a gentleman and then setting his tiehe could look just good, but still not like this bond who wears designer t  shirts and short sleeve shits and rocks the screen. And he looked just splendid in designer sun glasses.
Daniel Craig has a god like body and takes the entire image of Bond to another, upper level. The viewer could believe that happens in the movie and I think this is the first time, the bond has been shown like this.
Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson have done a perfect job as producers. I was sure that Mr. Craig was not gonna make it and Barbara is going to change the bond for one more time. But the credit of the entire movie goes to Martin Campbell who has done it again after GOLDEN EYE.
It would be unfair to think of this movie without martin Campbell. The real hero of the film is him. He has done it well and has done it twice. Hats off for Mr. Campbell.
But the soundtrack is a complete disaster. YOU KNOW MY NAME is nothing compares to THE GOLDEN EYE, GOLD FINGER , TOMORROW NEVER DIES or DIE ANOTHER DAY. To the best of my knowledge, this is the second time after A VIEW TO A KILL  DURAN DURAN that male artist has performed a title track.
Eva Green is OK. Not as impressive as Daniel Craig, but OK. In fact, thinking again, she is a mistake. Not even her, but the other girl who has a brief appearance, is also not up to the mark. I hardly believed that this was the series that has given us divas like URSULA ANDRESS, TANYA ROBERTS, BARBARA BACH, CAROLINE MUNRO, BERRY and DENISE RICHARDS. All these were far far better bond girls. To this date, as per my opinion, MAUD ADAMS is the best bond girl.
Even on the screen, it was clear that bond could have many more beautiful girls. Falling for an accountant was nothing but lack of options.( I think this is exactly what the director wants to convey..:))There is no on  screen chemistry with EVA.
In short, Ms.Barbara has succeeded and apart from all the lacunas, the movie is visual feast and a must watch. Daniel Craig has arrived, officially. The undersigned was never so happy to be wrong!