Dark and full of intrigue.

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2008)

I can see how many Bond fans want to see the same formulaic Bond (for the last half century almost), but personally I was done with it all a long time ago, until Daniel Craig became Bond, and they re-vamped the franchise.
I'm glad they took out the fluff. The whole 10 min intro to seeing M and Moneypenny for 10 minutes to seeing Q for 10 minutes, add 15 minutes of sex scenes, and 15 minutes of bad guys, 20 minutes of action and then 30 minutes of actual plot and you have the formula.
This does it more subtly and IMHO more deftly. I enjoyed the cinematography immensely, some of the action shots are just spectacular.
This is what I think people are missing.
The Gadgets: I do miss Q, but did you see all the cool gadgets? They are every where. From cell phones to touch plasma screens, these gadgets are now a reality. I'm glad they don't have gadgets just to push the plot along. In our world of high technology, the only place to go is to sci-fi gadgetry and I hope they never do that.
No quips: Good. I was tired of quipping after "Live or let die" came out.
No Moneypenny. Hey, how do we know that they don't have something in store for us with that? Remember this is a reboot.
A colder Bond - GOOD! I was tired of Bond being the pompously classy booze hound who screws every woman he comes into contact with. Movies have made fun of the "Bond saves the day" routine, hello Austin Powers. I think they have taken away the black and white cold war propaganda and moved it into the grayer realm of globalization.
Re: the directing and plot. My only problem is this really did feel like a sequel, and that it could not a stand on its own. Without the context of Casino Royale, this movie tends to be like other modern action flicks. However, with "Casino" to complement it, these are two really great movies to rebuild the character of James Bond into a 3 dimensional character, who can actually grow from more of "a blunt instrument" to the refined and experienced Bond we all know.
I definitely recommend this film, 8 out of 10 due to the fact that it was chopped up a little too much, and didn't quite give you enough characterization and answers to be satisfying. Other than that, it was really cool to watch! Can't wait for another one.
Oh, And lastly...
Thank god there was not an "Oh, James" in this movie. You can take that phrase and bury it in peat.