hit and miss

Rating: 6/10 (6 December 2006)

I've never read the original books so I have no idea how faithfully this movie portrays them.
But I DO know that this took a franchise and watered down into 'just another action flick'.
As some have already pointed out, the action is well-filmed - especially the "urban gymnastics" at the beginning. But the film needs more than great fight scenes to be a memorable movie.
I found myself unconcerned with the Bond character and wishing, hoping, for some more sexy women and gadgets. The Bond character is uninteresting, flat, and dark. Not at all the Bond we all know and love. Those of you who've seen it - think about it; did he say ANYTHING remotely interesting, humane, or charming throughout the movie (aside from when he was flirting with women)?
And frankly, I could do without seeing a man punched in the balls over and over again. It doesn't fit the Bond style and didn't make ANY sense in the script. At that point in the movie, all the baddies had to do was threaten to torture his love interest and he'd have folded.
There were just too many things that didn't make sense in the script, and too little reason to care about the main character. And the writers seem like they couldn't decide whether the movie was for adults (torture, violence, blood, etc), or for kids. I mean, the sexuality was VERY tame (even for a Bond flick) and they felt the need to beat us over the head with literal, verbal narratives of things that were plainly obvious. For example, all through the big card game, they have a supporting character whisper play-by-play explanations to a female observer as if she's too dumb to figure out what's going on herself. Yet, she's SUPPOSED to be this intelligent, analytical professional. And that's BESIDE the fact that every moron in the theater can figure out for themselves that when Bond pushes all his money into the center of the poker table, he's gambling all his money.
For an action flick, the movie hits in many ways. For a legendary franchise, it misses in many more.
If you liked Triple X or the Transporter or any other modern "extreme" action flick, you'll like this one too. And just like those, you'll forget you ever saw it within 6 months. It's not Braveheart or Schindler's List and should be given the 5-7 (out of 10) rating it deserves.
Hope this helps you decide whether to see it or not.