Unusually excellent Bond

Rating: 9/10 (27 October 2015)

SPOILER ALERT.
This Bond is special in many ways. First off, the relationship with Madeleine, the sweet and sexy dame with a twist, and its unusually romantic evolution, with happy ending too! After 24 movies, Bond certainly deserved to find someone who could make him happy without getting killed (and apparently, manage to pull him away from his job!). The relationship between the characters develops beautifully during the movie, an aspect of writing that is too often missing in these days of fast montage and special effects (neither of which is lacking here, of course).
The opening sequence is breath-taking, the best I have seen in any Bond movie, and so are many other outdoor & action scenes (notably, the car chase around San Peters') made really special by an absolutely spectacular photography, and a careful choice of sets alternatively quiet and elegant or colorful and teeming with life.
The cast choice is spot on, and all the main performances are solid and convincing. The only slight weakness of the movie can be considered the plot, not too consistent, or the final escape from the bad guy's mansion, a bit too disconnected because of its excesses, and in fact more an homage to the old Bond movies than a proper piece of the plot.
All in all a very enjoyable movie, enough to make me wish to see it again straight away.