Amazingly good

Rating: 9/10 (9 February 2009)

I was introduced to the Bond series through the films featuring Pierce Brosnan, which while they had their silly moments, were much more serious than the Bond movies before them. Maybe this has biased me or maybe I would always feel this way, but I really like the serious approach that the new Bond films (now starring Daniel Craig) take.
I shied away from seeing this new film for quite a while after hearing horrible things about the story, pacing, editing etcetera but I have to say that I found it incredibly entertaining.
There was a lot of action but the short bits of talk and whatnot in between were well used for maximum effect which I felt helped greatly to build the emotional tension and show how Bond's character is growing-up (albeit slowly). The action scenes also felt a little more frenetic than in Casino Royale but they were by no means unwatchable as some have suggested. In fact I liked every scene until the one with the explosions in the desert. It was cool and entertaining though I relived being scared as a child during the Backdraft attraction at Universal Studios! The only detractors I can think of is 1) that the explosion scene was a little overboard. At some point the characters should have just given up and rushed out of the building rather than stubbornly duke it out 'til the building was falling down around them!! 2) The villain(s) were really bland but then I guess that goes with the realism of the story.