You disappoint me Mr Bond

Rating: 4/10 (20 December 2008)

The title song was a dreary mess, so forgettable that I wager singer Alicia Keys couldn't even whistle it back.
I am one of the multitude of life long Bond fans and I will defend Bond films whenever possible, on this occasion it however is not possible. Firstly the car chase at the beginning must have been great but the audience were not allowed to view it as the Director must have bought a shaky-cam add on and decided to get his monies worth, also the action kept cutting from cut to cut so fast that by the time your eyes were used to a frame it was gone, when the scene ended you knew you had seen something but weren't sure what.
This was the same for all action sequences. Also (and maybe a tecky out there can explain this) the action scenes seemed to be filmed on less frames per second than standard, so it appeared staggered, all this will be explained as a Directors way of inducing action, but it failed to do so, it just induced a headache.
I know all Bonds and all Bond films go through phases, some are moody and some are lighter, there is no one mood that we should expect, however I venture to say that there is a mood that we shouldn't expect, that mood being depressing. The film's mood is considerably depressing throughout, with no one liners, no tongue in cheek and no cheeky banter. Any Director who sees their own ambition superior to that of the Bond Genre should step aside, if they want to make an overly dark Bond in some draining selfish ambition to be remembered as creating a 'different Bond', then choose another film. Anyone can make a film with one theme, it's the magic of Bonds gone by that could combine drama, action, excitement, sadness and fun that will be remembered.
One of the great things about Bonds is that anything is possible Bond can go into outer space survive incredible leaps etc, so as audiences we can be expected to believe him in any situation. However I found my support waining with his plan to rescue his femme Fatale who was being held in an open speed boat by 7 guards all with Sub machine guns, and the boat itself was surrounded by more boats with more guards with sub machine guns, so Bond Kamakazi style rams his boat into the boat on a suicide mission, at one point he is being chased by the pursuing boats who are about one metre behind him showering him with a storm of bullets making it inconceivable that he and the girl didn't get killed instantly, the scene resembles something from Naked Gun I actually LOL I imagined Leslie Neilson in the pursuing boat.
Another irritating item was the fact that this was a sequel, I couldn't remember the details of Casino Royale and more importantly I didn't expect to have to. Why is this Bond a sequel no other Bonds have been! sure there may be elements that tie certain Bonds together, but each Bond movie should be standalone, what happens if someone walks in and rents a Quantum of Solace DVD does it have a prerequisite statement on the cover! or for those who QOS was there first Bond?! they must have been very disappointed (and confused).
Daniel Craig was great, I hope the next film gives him something he deserves. Plus he has now stopped that curious pouting.