I'll admit it -- I was one of the skeptics.
A blonde Bond? A poker-playing Bond? WTF?
But this movie straight up rocks. One of the best action flicks I've seen in a *long* time, and a certain add to my DVD library.
From a rough, heart-pounding opener to the bittersweet ending, Daniel Craig's Bond is unpolished, unfussy and and most importantly, extrememly dangerous. He makes Pierce Brosnan's Bond, whom I liked, look like an overly-comedic poser.
This Bond is a killer. It just so happens that he's on the "good" side. Craig actually looks like he'd love to off someone. Anyone.
He also seems to have a strange detachment from the rest of humanity, treating women like toys. It makes him colder than the love-'em-and-leave-'em Bond of before. You wonder if he enjoys his time with them at all, or if he's romancing them because he's supposed to want to do so.
And this is a young Bond -- he's still uncomfortable with high-class life. You get the idea he's drinking martinis just because he'd feel stupid ordering a beer (although in one scene he's drinking unidentifiable brown stuff). He crashes a classic Aston-Martin driving like an idiot. He looks about as comfortable as a high schooler at the prom in his tuxedo. Those elements of the classic Bond are gone.
The only thing that doesn't work for the young Bond are Daniel Craig's eyes. He's younger than other actors to play the part -- only 38 -- but his eyes are old and life-worn. He looks like he's one hit job from chucking it all and opening a bar somewhere, not like a spy at the beginning of his career.
But overall a most satisfying movie, and it will rank right up there with my favorites in the series -- if not the best one yet. As long as Bond *never* ever drives a Ford again. My sweetie and I both cringed when we saw that.
James Bond does *not* drive American.
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