Ian Fleming's James Bond is taking form slowly but is it too late for Daniel Craig?

Rating: 6/10 (19 November 2015)

The good: Bond gets back his playfulness, gizmos, a loaded car, witty one liners, a mighty henchmen to lock horns with, some good locations and the grand DB5 again!
The bad: A wasted villain in Christopher Waltz, wasted bond girl in Monica Bellucci, slack pace, mediocre editing, average action sequences, disconnected story at times, a bond film or a no-bond film (a Bourne film instead) feeling again!
Overall: The film is not bad, but far behind as compared to other films in this franchise.
With no offence to Craig's fandom, he is proving to be the weakest link in this chain. Though he was the perfect fit for this franchise's rewrite in a time where dark and grunge is in supported by his wrinkled face and a rock solid frame, his transformation to witty and entertaining bond is taking too much time.
The opening sequence which is the highlight of any bond film and sets the tone for it, is grand here, but lacks the brain and the thrill. For that matter, even the climax is comical barring a few minutes which are great. The car chase brought in for the first time in four films, is flat and fizzles out very quickly. Rome has been captured very beautifully by the night here though. Imagine driving around town at wee hours of the night with empty roads at high speed and there you have it. What you would enjoy however, is the fist fight sequence between Bond and henchmen Mr Hinx! Its clobbering time! You will be reminded of 'Jaws'.
Ralph Fiennes simply can't be as good as Judi Dench as M, Money Penny goes unnoticed, but yes, Q gets more meat in this - Omega does more than just telling the time!
Go watch it, cause you have to!