Movie in Search of a Writer

Rating: 2/10 (10 February 2013)

Having seen every Bond movie since Dr. No, I can say with absolute certainty they're getting progressively worse. First to go was Bond's sophistication and humor; there is no longer any sense of fun. Craig mumbles too much for my taste, and appears to play each scene as though someone off stage were whispering in his ear. "Run here, knockdown guard, squint at something, run up the steps, shoot somebody." Craig follows directions well, but in doing so he looks like someone trying to remember to separate the whites from the colors.
But even Craig is capable enough to handle decent material, which, unfortunately, is a very short supply in this movie. For instance, the climatic battle scene takes place in castle in Scotland, takes at least 20 minutes of screen time, involves weapons of all kinds, dynamite, various lesser explosions, and booby traps, and in the end, only one person has been killed. And he was stabbed.
Scenes change for no reason whatsoever, except to introduce someone Bond has to defeat, which he usually does handily even though the odds are sometimes 35 to 1.
I could go on, but to summarize, this is the worst Bond I've ever seen; worse, even that the one which used the invisible car.
Filmmakers need to remember that no matter how good the stars pecs are, there still needs to be a story wrapped around them. And I would suggest if you're going to make a movie, stop taking advantage of Daniel Craig's rapidly-aging pecs, and pay the writer to come up with a believable story.
This wasn't it. 2/10