The new Bond movie is an eye-opener in many ways.
First is the “reboot” of the story, which tells the story of how Bond received his double-oh status. The second is the choice of actor, a compactly-built, athletic, blonde hair, blue-eyed man with a decided lack of thick British dialect. The third, and perhaps the most rewarding, is the revamp of the way in which the Bond story is told.
Gone are the campy laser/space/nuclear bomb in a faultline megalomaniacal superweapons. Q and Moneypenny are strangely absent. What is left is a distillation of what makes Bond a great action film. Over-the-top chase scenes, quirky, understated British humor, and a complicated plot make this probably the best popcorn movie of the year. My reservations about a non-traditional James Bond evaporated after a scant ten minutes into the movie. Daniel Craig uses his blue eyes to create an image of burning intensity, driven home with his athletic prowess (something sorely missing in the previous Bonds) and his ruthlessness. Make no mistake, this movie is as gritty as James Bond has ever been. In multiple sequences, Bond shows his chops in some tightly choreographed martial arts displays. The ladies in the audience visibly swooned in the beach scenes, when Craig showed his form without the typical tuxedo coverage.
I was prepared to nitpick this movie to death, and instead, I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. Go see the movie.