Running on Empty

Rating: 3/10 (1 November 2008)

As a huge fan of the genre, the series, and Daniel Craig,I approached this instalment hoping for the best - and was bitterly disappointed.Marc Forsters past directorial credentials did not identify him as an obvious Bond custodian,he does not rise to the challenge.
Nominally carrying on from "Casino Royale" the threadbare plot quickly runs out of steam. Its modest 106 minute running time still had me, and others, checking our wrist watches as the stripped down style failed to engage.The "threat" is a baddie who wants to monopolise water production in Bolivia, and then hike the prices! Have the script writers not heard of Severn Trent? The pre- credit car chase is pretty superfluous and fails to match even Liam Neeson in the "Taken" chase sequence at the Albanians camp.
The set pieces have a curious stand alone quality, the gritty sections lack continuity, conviction and purpose.As a consequence, viewers are left yearning for a bit of glamour, and gadgetry not as nostalgia, but to compensate.perversely the "Live And Let Die" style finale where the enemy HQ is blown up is totally unnecessary, and cold.
Craig is fine again as Bond,Olga Kurylenko is an adequate female lead.But there is no glamour and when M relieves him of his duties it smacks of a desperate attempt to try to spice up a flagging script. A misfire.