Gritty and powerful. Bond is definitely back!

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2006)

This was my first time back to actually see Bond at the cinema for many years; to see if the 'Batman Begins' of Bond could deliver. The short answer - "Definitely yes!"
Gone are the cringe-making puns, silliness and Star Trek style villains and in comes a heavy dose of the real world. Or at least, the real world as it may be for a globe trotting secret agent.
The action sequences are gripping, the plot twists and turns like a Swiss mountain pass, the violence painful and hard-hitting and, for me, quite shocking at times. The locations are suitably glamorous - swanky hotels, yachts, islands, luxury cars and clothes as we've come to expect over the years. And of course, there's Bond himself. Daniel Craig was a complete unknown to me before this film, but wow! He's made his mark in my book - tough, believable, ruthless, intelligent, sophisticated and sexually magnetic - for the first time in a Bond movie I was just knocked out by Bond's physical presence and I would certainly find him difficult to resist. Sadly, the reverse would not be true perhaps ...
Some reviews have said that the film lagged a little in places but I didn't find that to be the case, they were simply lulls in the action which allowed other aspects of plot and/or character to develop. Even in every scene where things are 'going slowly' there's a feeling that something's about to happen at any moment. There really is a palpable sense of tension for the whole film which is just how I want a Bond film to be. And though there are a few little jokes and remarks throughout the film, they're actually amusing or funny! Now there's something new. One of those I liked that I can actually remember was where Vesper and Bond are about to get into the lift and she says "Get the next one. There's not room for me and your ego in here".
The other characters are as well fleshed out as they require and of course Dame Judi is marvellous - revealing a more rounded 'M' than we've seen before, both cold and detached and yet also protective and understanding. This is symbolic of the film generally - it actually has depth, solidly and a sense of the real for the first time in decades. It feels like we're on planet earth instead of a sci-fi experience set 40 years from now.
I've not read the original book so I don't know how closely the film follows it - though the reliance on mobile phones is obviously missing from the novel! - it may well bode well for a comb through Fleming's back catalogue if they haven't all been raided by now. I'm sure they can invent some if needed.
Finally, I liked the title sequence and the music, whilst not up with any instant Bond classics it sounded good on a first hearing. David Arnold's score was excellent as befits someone with an obvious love of the Bond musical genre.
So, get off down to the cinema and enjoy yourself.