The mobile phone bond

Rating: 6/10 (11 December 2006)

There was the one I'll always remember as the diving bond, there was the skiing bond, the space station bond, the train bond, the voodoo bond, the one with the jetpac, the one with the hat, the one with the cat (or was that the pussy)Â…. This bond, this "reinvention of the series" bond will for ever after be stuck in my head as the one with the mobile/cell phones. It seems that every plot twist involves the use of a mobile. And after a while it feels like a very cheap plot device. But of course there is nothing cheap about it, there are so many mobile phones in this movie that one has to wonder how much money the different brands paid to have their latest model included. Speaking of product placement one of the worst moments in the movie happens when our new and fresh Mr. Bond meets the main bond-girl and she comments on his watch asking if it is a Rolex, he replies no that it is an Omega. And to make matters worse she replies "Nice!" Yes people I think Omega will pay a bit extra for that one word. And now guess what every yuppie grown-up boy bond fan will be wanting from his missus for Christmas. "Nice!" They should have cut some bits out of it and tidied it up a bit. And for me the whole bit with the crane was just too unbelievable, I hear laughing at some of the stunts during that aerial chase scene. I'm not saying that bond should be believable; it has to bend rules and strive for the spectacular. But if they go to such lengths to re-energize the series with a grittier and more realistic bond then perhaps they should have kept the matrix-like leaping from building to building to a minimum. Spectacular, maybe if you are 15. And the defibrillator in his car thing, (with the loose wire, come on!) surely there could have been a better way of dealing with the fact that he was poisoned. This is a good bond movie, not a classic but certainly not an embarrassment. A great bond girl, one of the best but Daniel Craig does feel a bit stiff at times, maybe but the next movie he will have gotten over the feeling that he must pout, show his muscles and push out his chest at every opportunity.