Britain is to be celebrated for many fine exports to the world, from democracy and civilisation to fish n chips and football. Perhaps the greatest of these exports is the spy, James Bond. There have been 22 bond movies, and this is the 20th. A few actors have portrayed the MI5 agent and everyone will have their favorite Bond. For my money it's Pierce Brosnan, who exudes charm and wit but also has and edge of violence to him.
This film differs quite a bit from most other Bond films, in fact all of them up to this point, in that Bond is captured early on and spends months in captivity in a North Korean interrogation centre. He was in North Korea to assassinate Colonel Tan Sun Moon, a rogue element of the army in that besieged country. It goes awry after Bond is given away by a traitor within MI5 and that's how James Bond came to be captured. Once he gets swapped for Colonel Moons aide we follow Bond as he unravels the mystery behind his capture.
We see action set piece after set piece, and the usual gadgets and beautiful women. Brosnan is his usual suave self here, in a role he is absolutely perfect for. The title music is also up to the usual standard and there are a couple of twists in the plot, that whilst not exactly Shyamalan in their complexity does add a frisson of surprise. There are also some superbly sneering villains that are very much in the rich tradition of Bond opponents. Given that this was a landmark in the series there quite a few nods to the preceding movies that Bond aficionados will pick up on.
As far as criticisms go, the only one I can really think of is that some of the CGI looks a bit rushed, a bit rubbish but that's not that big an issue as your too caught up in the storyline to really notice it too much. This is a cracking action film, spy film and a great addition to the Bond series. In fact, seeing as this is my blog and it's my opinion that matters, I'll go as far as to say that this is the best one in the series. Plenty of style, plenty of babes and plenty of spy based action. What more could you want?
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