When did Bond get so dull?

Rating: 3/10 (19 May 2007)

OK, there have been some pretty bad Bond movies out there. There have been movies like Moonraker, which strained the limits of credibility. There have been ones like Die Another Day and Diamonds are Forever, which were so silly that they more closely resembled caricatures of themselves. But James Bond has never been dull.
Until now.
Take the traditional opening action scene. Up till now, every Bond film has opened up with a breathtaking action sequence with first rate stunts and sets. Bond jumped out of planes without a parachute, jumped AFTER planes without a parachute, chased down his foes with high-tech boats, helicopters, hovercraft..you get the idea.
This time? He beats up a guy in a bathroom and shoots another one in the head while sitting on his ass. Whoa. Jackie Chan, watch out.
That's not to say there aren't some halfway decent scenes in this movie. There is a chase scene as Bond tries to bring down a bomb-laden fuel truck before it takes out the world's biggest airplane. And the scene near the end involving a ongoing battle in a building sinking into a Venice Canal. For a typical action movie, this is pretty good but for a Bond movie, especially a 2hour+ one? Pretty slow. There have been many Bond movies with better action sequences..actually, I think ALL of them. Half the movie is spent watching Bond play poker, for crying out loud.
As for the ending..the word 'anticlimatic' doesn't do it justice. Bond finally tracks down the supreme villain..who's had maybe five-ten minutes of screen time before then..and shoots him in the leg. What about the real Bond villain, the scarred evil genius who weeps blood? Got killed off a half-hour ago by this guy. Shot in the head while he was getting ready to finish off Bond. Excuse me, have the writers ever actually WATCHED a Bond film?
Speaking of Bond, this guy doesn't resemble James Bond so much as Dirty Harry in a tuxedo. Gone is the witty banter, the clever gadgets that Bond ALWAYS found a reason to use no matter how obscure. This guy just kills people. Even Timothy Dalton was more likable than this.
My final recommendation is to stay away from this movie. Even if you're looking to round out your collection, this movie is such a departure from the typical formula you can be forgiven for leaving it out. The James Bond genre has been successful for over 45 years. Departing from its core principles is NOT a good idea.