Bond the way it should be

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2006)

I love the Bond series. I own all of the movies, and have seen them multiple times. As much as I love the overt humor and over-the-top action of a lot of the films, it was nice to finally see a gritty Bond film. There is plenty of incredible action, but what really makes the movie is the intensely dramatic scenes and the powerful acting by the cast.
Craig brings a completely new interpretation of Bond. We can see the pain and emotional conflicts within Bond which are so rarely seen in the series. Craig's performance never ceases to be dead-on perfect. Not only is he cool and witty as we'd expect Bond to be, but he can also portray anger and hurt brilliantly. In this film we see a different kind of Bond. We see a Bond who is not yet on the top of his game. He makes mistakes, he gets misled, and doesn't always complete the mission with perfection. Craig is the perfect blend of what we consider the cinematic Bond and the literary Bond. He brings everything you could want in a Bond to the table.
The rest of the cast was also superb. Mads Mikkelson is dead-on as Le Chiffre. He can be evil and menacing, but wisely does not take the role over the top. The character of Le Chiffre is really a pawn who is in a tough position, and Mikkelson shows how Le Chiffre is really quite frightened for his life. His exchanges of steely glares with Bond at the poker table are some of the best moments of the film. Eva Green is instantly one of the best Bond girls, she is Bond's equal in intelligence and also very sexy. It is believable that a woman like this could take Bond's heart. She is the best Bond girl since Tracy in OHMSS. Giancarlo Giannini is very charismatic in his role, and while his time on screen is usually not long, he makes the character very memorable.
This movie has easily the best dialogue of any Bond movie to date. The writers did a marvelous job, and I think Paul Haggis really helped them with it. Martin Campbell...absolutely incredible directing job. The entire movie was incredibly intense, even during some of the "slower" stretches. Overall the movie was a perfect blend of drama, suspense, and action. It's not only everything you want in a Bond movie, it's everything you want in a movie...period. As a lifelong HUGE Bond enthusiast, I have to say this one was the definitive movie. Perfect in just about every way.