Craig excels, but movie disappoints

Rating: 6/10 (7 November 2008)

The blue eyes are cold, calculating and mean business. The occasional smirk is reserved for those who deign to humor a man on a personal vendetta. The body is supremely athletic, the stamina relentless, the aim unerring, and the motive compellingly haunting, albeit confusing. And despite all this, there is a heart within the man. Oh yes, there is.
Welcome to the world of Daniel "James Bond" Craig.
Comparisons with the awesome Casino Royale will be inevitable but even with that, this movie disappoints a fair bit. The plot is wafer thin, the antagonist's objectives are very vague, the action sequences, though marvelously choreographed and shot, were one too many. Ditto product placements. And I just can't believe that this movie is only 106 min long. I thought we deserved better for a sequel. A giveaway of the feeble storyline, perhaps?
Enough mud-slinging. To start with the positives, there is Craig. Then, there is the fractious relationship between M and Bond. Hitherto, Bond movies have always shown M as this overbearing watchdog who seems to irk Bond to no end. Here, we see the grudging respect and the rare concern, despite not seeing eye-to-eye on most matters. Then, it's the uneasy partnership of the MI6 and the CIA. Oh, before I forget, the opera scene is terrific as we get to see Bond get into the nitty-gritties of sleuthwork, full of impersonation, intimidation, inventiveness and insouciance. The plane chase sequence is also good, an obvious homage to the classic Bond movies, where there were only propeller planes.
Other sequences that stay on the mind are Mathis' quiet exchange with Bond over the late Vesper and Bond finally tracking down his adversary. When the latter sequence started, I almost mistook it to be the same one where Bond kills Dryden in CR, prior to the credits. Speaking of which, the traditional action sequence that precedes it is sure to kick in the adrenalin but the credits song is just awful. Chris Cornell simply rocked with "You know my name" but this one had a weird rhythm and Alicia Keys' grating vocals.
Coming to the cast, Judi Dench and Mathieu Amalric are great. The Dame is clearly on top of her game, and I enjoyed each dialogue between her and Bond completely. Mathieu made a less-than-convincing part look interesting predominantly because of his short stature and a charming smile, masking a ruthless streak along the way. But the movie simply belongs to Craig. Any doubting Thomases should now be convinced that he is the right man to play Bond.
Rating: 6/10