Good but too dark

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2013)

Daniel Craig's third outing as 007 takes the 50 year-old franchise in a new direction but makes some significant sacrifices along the way. In this outing, Mr Bond has to retrieve a hard drive listing the cover of every MI6 agent on active service. Things get off to a great start with a fabulous chase scene over the rooftops of Istanbul. The film maintains a great pace through plot segments in London, Shanghai, and Macau also. However the final hour-or-so, though suspenseful, feels grim and anticlimactic. Bond's age and vulnerability are perhaps over-emphasized, and the silliness factor is significantly reduced. Overall, this is a good film and a more mature, world-weary spin on the James Bond character. Unfortunately, it's just not quite as much fun. Worth seeing all the same though.