This is a tuffer than tuff, rough as nuts revenge thriller in which Bond is involved in loads of top class chase/fight sequences, both on foot and in any number of different types of vehicle. At one point or another, he wears a tuxedo, drinks a martini, uses his charm to bed a girl, uses guns and fists, delivers one or two bone-dry one liners and wins the day in a way that ties up the loose ends from the previous film and quite clearly, in a way that I won't explain but which should be absolutely joyous to a Bond film fan, proudly proclaims that Bond has now returned to the place that we previously knew him. The Birth of Bond ends with this film and the next should feature the more whole figure. Yes, it's different from previous Bonds quite often - but not always. So what, anyway? Those who proclaim that Bond was always lighthearted are extremely wrong. Those who say Bond always used to set the latest cinematic trends must realise that this only happened in the 60s. In 1973, 'Live and Let Die' followed the Blaxploitation trend, 'The Man With the Golden Gun' latched onto a spot of Martial Arts in the wake of Bruce Lee and 'Moonraker' whored itself in an effort to snap at the heels of 'Star Wars'. This latest couple of Bonds might well have taken a cue from Bourne but it is still always Bond in so, so many ways. Moaners may go and live in the past but fresh, open-minded lovers of quality spy/action films should enjoy the treasures before us - Craig is absolutely brilliant, Dench is ditto, the effects and stunts are awesome and the tone is brutally gritty in a way that might actually more than match Connery (though he is still and always will be the God of Bonds). More than ever before, this is the Bond of the Fleming stories, mixed up with the most modern of cinematic styles. There is much more than a quantum of solace to be found here:
BOND LIVES!!!!
BOND LIVES!!!!