Daniel Craig is the Bond yet

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2008)

Quantum opens with a car chase that rivals the breathtaking construction site foot chase from CR. I personally loved the cinematography, allowing plenty of shots of Craig in the driver's seat making one wonder how much of the driving Daniel Craig did himself. After the chase, Bond opens the trunk to reveal a battered Mr. White(cool), whom he escorting to interrogation with M, once again beautifully played by the incomparable Judi Dench. Within only a few minutes of screen time, White reveals that the organization he's with has people everywhere, including M's personal bodyguard, Mitchell. After a few gunshots, one apparently nicking M, Bond is off running again. Here's the first opportunity to see how physical once again Craig is over his predecessors. His speed, jumping across balconies and rooftops, perfectly mimic the physicality of CR. The intense foot chase goes for a few minutes culminating in an outstanding rope, wench and scaffold-born fist/gunfight in an building interior work site that ends with Mitchell dead. There's a proper touch of realism with M questioning how the hell they couldn't have known about Mitchell with yearly polygraphs and security checks. The way Judi Dench conveys distress and disbelief over how it could have transpired that way leaves you with a feeling of contentment that they didn't just leave it with a question mark. No more details. There are some trademark Bond moves-meeting the Bond lady by pretending to be someone else whose actually supposed to kill her, hooking up with CIA counterpart Felix Leiter for some quick intel, again played dead on the mark by Jeffrey Wright, and of course, a big blowout with the film's heavy. Mathieu Amalric is not a familiar face to me, but his almost nonchalant approach to his methods and intentions is to be appreciated and, I must admit, his fight with Bond was sweet. This guy is not physical or intimidating looking, but he blows his top quite nicely, resulting in one of the most searing and physically visceral Bond villain fights of the last twenty years. That's saying a lot and I might me wrong, but that's what I think and why I think it. There's a lot more that could be said, but I'll leave it for the eyes to see and your mind to go "nice". One last-Daniel Craig is apparently on paper for two more--here's hoping he goes as long as Roger Moore.