Walk. Take your base.

Rating: 4/10 (17 November 2012)

I say that because I considered the last movie a complete strike, and the first one a tip foul. If you don't understand baseball references, that won't make any sense to you. Oh well. I would have been more impressed if this was Craig's first Bond outing, and this was the actual reboot of the franchise. I was at least amused, if not satisfied with his use of gadgets, cars and women. Yes, Bond is supposed to use women, and if you don't like that, watch something/someone else. The idea of him being softer, kinder and/or gentler is just plain wrong. Go for Jason Bourne, or Jack Bauer (interesting that they all have the same initials, no?) if you want the non-womanizer operative type.
The cinematography is OK. Not as good as The Spy Who Loved Me, or For Your Eyes Only. But the shots of Macau are fairly breathtaking. The acting is good, but I will have to say that the gay scene should have been cut, and whoever suggested it should be beaten severely about the head and neck area. The plot is interesting, as it does not contain a global threat like in Moonraker or The Spy Who Loved Me. There were times that I really didn't care if the antagonist won or not.
Overall, I rate this movie as watchable, and now important to the franchise as it contains introductions to characters of note. However, it mildly deviates from the time-honoured Bond blueprint. This could be more easily overlooked, if not for the last two movies. But this movie will be more important in the long run than Quantum and Casino Roale.
I was starting to get irritated with the amount of attention that has been paid to "M" recently, ever since the position was filled by a woman. It also seemed to coincide with the neutering of James Bond. I truly hope that we are done with that chapter.
Good effort, but significant room for improvement.