A very well direted film

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2012)

Saw this movie on Monday night and I really enjoyed it. Here's some reasons why:

Daniel Craig - In my opinion, the best Bond yet. He embodies everything that Bond means to me (tuff, smart, suave & cocky). Yet I find that Craig has brought much more to Bond than previous actors: and that is soul. Emotion is what makes this Bond so much tuffer than the rest, and this film hints at reasons why he may be the way he is.

-Sam Mendes - What a choice for Director. One of the best out there at the moment, and although there were some 'Dark Knight-esque' moments (to be expected) he did a damn good job at making a true Bond film. The film was confident, and it wasn't on such an epically ridiculous scale as some Bond films. In fact, the climax was quite brilliantly underplaying the importance of Bond in today's world. And at the same time, showing us how useful he can be.
-Thomas Newman - I'm a bit of a soundtrack geek. Near enough every Thomas Newman soundtrack is incredible, yet, quite similar (ie very obviously Newman). This however wasn't, but it was still brilliant, particularly the introduction of the old Bond Themes throughout the film.
-The Story - I thought the story was very well written and quite conceivable. It completely questioned the use for a James Bond type figure in today's society. I liked that the introduction of the main antagonist was left until an hour into the movie. I wasn't overly keen on his entrance, but I guess there's only one of 2 ways of doing it.
-The ending - Bloody brilliant. The location was perfect, the idea was perfect and the whole notion of Bond having to rely on weapons and creative thinking, from an old house, was brilliant. This would of been a great ending for any movie, just that much better because it's Bond.
Overall, for me it's the most authentic and well rounded Bond film to date. I've never liked the sheer gravity of Bond films before, in terms of gadgets and world threatening missiles etc. This was just the right balance between smart gadget wizardry and old school fist-fighting.