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First, if you want to see this film I strongly suggest you avoid spoilers. The effort to avoid them is worthwhile. There are some minor plot spoilery bits under the cut as most of what I complain about is the plot.
The film is, unlike most Bond films, a character piece. What makes this work is the excellent acting by the majority of the cast. Daniel Craig and Judi Dench are both stellar. Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris put in good supporting roles, and Ben Whishaw is a stand-out as a 21st-Century Q. I hope they keep him around. I was not as impressed by Javier Bardem as the mad villain but I think he did well enough with the material he was given. I just wasn't too happy with the script. Having three writers credited is rarely a good sign.
The direction is good, if not your typical Bond. Sam Mendes, whose work I adored in American Beauty, is not comfortable with the long shot and it shows here. He's great with the small-scene, personal, and tight images that probably make him a good choice for this film but it makes the visual feel somewhat uneven.
The character story is about the clash of generations - a changing of the old guard represented by Bond and M with the newer more postmodern vision of how intelligence work should be done. Things get boiling when it becomes clear that one of M's old enemies is back for revenge on her and that provides the action-motivation against which the characters' stories are told.
( It helps if you don't examine the plot too closely )
All that said, it's still a film to see because the two leads are just so damned good. MizA recently commented to me "How many classically trained Shakespearean actors do we need?" and I responded "More than we have now." Ever since Dench took over the M role I've been enjoying having that character on screen more and if you see this as a Bond + M team film I think it works quite well.
The film is, unlike most Bond films, a character piece. What makes this work is the excellent acting by the majority of the cast. Daniel Craig and Judi Dench are both stellar. Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris put in good supporting roles, and Ben Whishaw is a stand-out as a 21st-Century Q. I hope they keep him around. I was not as impressed by Javier Bardem as the mad villain but I think he did well enough with the material he was given. I just wasn't too happy with the script. Having three writers credited is rarely a good sign.
The direction is good, if not your typical Bond. Sam Mendes, whose work I adored in American Beauty, is not comfortable with the long shot and it shows here. He's great with the small-scene, personal, and tight images that probably make him a good choice for this film but it makes the visual feel somewhat uneven.
The character story is about the clash of generations - a changing of the old guard represented by Bond and M with the newer more postmodern vision of how intelligence work should be done. Things get boiling when it becomes clear that one of M's old enemies is back for revenge on her and that provides the action-motivation against which the characters' stories are told.
( It helps if you don't examine the plot too closely )
All that said, it's still a film to see because the two leads are just so damned good. MizA recently commented to me "How many classically trained Shakespearean actors do we need?" and I responded "More than we have now." Ever since Dench took over the M role I've been enjoying having that character on screen more and if you see this as a Bond + M team film I think it works quite well.
