My First Bond

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2006)

I went to see James Bond last night. It was the first ever James Bond movie i had ever sat through - i did watch about 20mins of Goldeneye but turned it off in disgust as the wonderful Sean Bean was killed (only to be told the truth a few days later by my overly amused friends).
I wasn't expecting much and i cant explain why. I will go and see anything in the cinema, i will watch and usually love any crap that Hollywood produces but for some reason James Bond did not appeal to me!!.
Half the group wanted to go and the other half didn't. I didn't have a choice as i am still in the badbooks for making everyone go and see The Hills Have Eyes (best horror/remake of the year IMO).
We decided not to prebook our tickets and leave it up to fate whether we got in or not. WE did of course and we where in our seats a mammoth 30mins (a record even for me) before it started, that is even after the usual drama of trying to work the pick&Mix and doing a quick toilet run.
SO after a near perfect run with the trailers (Eragorn, 300 and Deja Vu) the film began.
I can officially announce that James Bond wins the Neenee-b prize for the worst opening credits of the year. It was like a hippie playing poker on LSD in the 1960's. that is the only way to describe it.
I do have to admit that the first 20mins with J.B chasing a guy with a bomb through a building site was fantastic - it was really well shot and the action and stunts where real looking which is what made it so good.
After that to be honest it went down hill. There was a confusing story line about a poker game, with the villain being chased by another villain only for neither of those two villains to be the real villain. At the end i found it hard to figure out (or to care - 2 1/2 hour long movie people!!) who the main Bond Villain was.
The poker playing scenes where good. I felt quite smug that i knew what they were doing and i was quite amusing when they kept panning over to the Bondgirl and the other guy and he kept telling her (but really the audience in an overly obvious manner) what was happening!! I must say that Bonds co-star was the sexiest, voluptuous most expensive looking co-star in movie history. I mean after seeing the Sony Ericson phone close up for about the millionth time i almost sprang up in my seat and ran out of the cinema to my nearest car phone warehouse in order to buy one. The product placement in the film so effective and subtly done(please note sarcasm!! lol) Daniel Craig was fine as Bond, and yes i did inhale quite sharply when he came our of the pool but the true star was the gorgeous Aston Martin DB9. If it was me that was driving i would have saved the car and not the bond girl. I think that a few of the audience members felt the same as after the car role there was a few gasps for the death of the car.
Judi Dench was great as M, which so we have learnt is not a randomly assigned name - which sets us up nicely for M in her own super spy/grandmother type spin off movie!! I cant complain about the casting There were some amusing bits but weirdly the torture scene got the most laughs, but then again I'm from Ireland and we are all mad anyway.........
It went a bit Titanic towards the end with all the nautical terror. The bit with the girl behind the metal gates i think was a scene stolen right out of Titanic - i have expected Kate Winslet floating by on a big door.
Overall it was OK. From what I've been told it was the best Bond in years and i will take other peoples word for it. Daniel Craigs performance gets an 8/10 (he loses 1 point for climbing on board a movie franchise, enabling him to become world famous, have his own computer game and appear in many sequel and he loses another point for being upstaged by a car) The film for me gets a 7/10. It was a bit overlong as it refused to end but overall it was a much better to see my first James Bond film than sit through The Guardian!!!