Dir. Martin Campbell · 2006 · 144 min · back in cinemas in 4K
Daniel Craig's first outing as James Bond goes back to the beginning: Ian Fleming's 1953 novel, with a newly minted 00 agent who is still rough around the edges. Reviews describe the opening act as a chase through Madagascar, built around the parkour of Sébastien Foucan, after which the trail leads to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker to terrorists, and a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro. Eva Green plays Vesper Lynd, the Treasury accountant who has to watch over the money. Judi Dench is M. The script is credited to Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis.
Twenty years on, the film is back on the big screen. Park Circus is handling the UK run from early October, billed as a brand-new 4K presentation, and listings in other countries describe it as a 4K restoration. The film turns twenty in mid-November.
The reviews gathered here mostly start with the same thing: the new Bond. Critics describe a tougher, more ruthless agent than the Brosnan years, and they treat that as the film's real idea, not a gimmick. Empire's Kim Newman called it terrific stuff for the franchise, and the Harvard Crimson's review boiled its verdict down to two words: the leading man's name.
This is terrific stuff, again positioning 007 as the action franchise to beat.Kim Newman, Empire
The chase in Madagascar is the sequence most often singled out, because the stunts are athletic and inventive instead of leaning on another car. Reviews also praise Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre, who has as much at stake as the hero, and Green's Vesper, who one critic found had more class and elegance than earlier Bond women. Because the story stays close to Fleming, it plays more like a character-driven thriller than a gadget showcase.
The poker is the usual complaint. Eye for Film found that the card scenes slow the pace, and PopMatters thought the game spends too much time at the table and that the romance around it is squeezed into a montage. Critics also split a little on tone: some found the new Bond's brutality a welcome shock, others found him uncomfortable. And nearly everyone noticed the theme song. Newman's one reservation was that the film lacks a truly memorable one, and the Crimson was harsher about it.
Verdicts ranged from 4 out of 5 at Eye for Film and the Crimson to a lukewarm 6 out of 10 at PopMatters, which found the film falling back on familiar formula. The score here sits with the majority.
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This is a cinema release: the 4K version is back in UK cinemas from early October, and other markets are described as following through the month, with dates varying by market. Availability varies by country, so check your local cinema listings.