A BONDafide winner.

Rating: 8/10 (28 October 2012)

Enthralling, exciting, griping and back to its best are perhaps just a few words you can expect to be seeing associated with this 'griter' Bond.
The acting from Daniel Craig was excellent and Judi Dench, who typically was just as good. We are also introduced to the new Bond team. Re-introducing Moneypenny and Q, as well as the replacement of M, in the face of Ralph Fiennes. Who can only be seen as an excellent replacement as the new M. The film has a gripping storyline, relating to the modern age and how people are becoming increasingly more reliant on technology. The villain, although slightly eccentric, can be seen as a classic Bond villain, seemingly always one step ahead of MI6, which makes it even more slightly odd that he got baited towards the end. The homage's to past Bonds throughout was a nice touch to celebrate their 50th year.
The reboot of Bond with Daniel Craig is exactly what the Bond franchise has needed to catch up with modern day film. We want to see a beautifully constructed film, something masterfully thought up with no plot holes, cinematics that really capture the imagination and perfect music. It is hard to say that this, and probably the best, instalment of Bond does not give all of that and more. The scene that really had me edging of my seat, like an impatient child, was the shooting of the shot of brandy on Severine's head. The look, the feel, the camera angles all made that scene just feel beautiful, in every sense of the word. It's not just that scene, every scene is carried out in a similar manner, all building up to the something bigger and better.
Although Piers Bronsan looked like the perfect Bond, the films, I always felt, were just too comical, they played more on the impossible, the charm and swagger of Bond. It wasn't working, Bond was fading, much like the Batman's in the 90's. It needed to be changed. And changed it was. Excluding a small blip in the 'rushed' Quantum of Solance we have been graced with a new style of Bond, in which Daniel Craig nails perfectly, replacing Bond's original charm, with his Bond's ruthlessness and mettle.
Like all films there are slight niggles that annoy all film fans, the fact that some of the stuff that happens is just implausible, shouldn't irritate me, but it does. The opening fight scene is a wonderfully constructed fight scene; engaging, action packed and, at a push, plausible. The drop from the train into the river on the other hand is not. Something in which they don't explain how he survived. My other small niggle, was the second fight scene with the guy from the train, in Shanghai. The build up was incredibly tense, the small pauses really built it up, so when it finally came to the fight scene, I was overly disappointed that the fight scene looked too choreographed.
I should stop myself from being overly picky and delegate myself away from the negatives and concentrate on what a great accomplishment this film truly is.
What should I expect though? This is what has drawn in millions of fans over an incredible movie lifespan of 50 years. There is no movie franchise out there that could come close to producing so many good films, not even if Christopher Nolan took to the of helm of Batman for another 3 films.
The film paves the way for more and new exciting prospects in the Bond franchise, which is hard to say that it will not prosper for another 50 years. Let us just hope we do not have to wait another 4 years for our next Bond instalment.