Shaken, not Stirred

We went to see the new James Bond last Saturday night with Michelle and Steve Young.

We also ran into Ann and Ken Murdock at the theater.

Our impressions:

Lenore said it was violent. (She still liked it.) I wasn't too put off by the "violence." There was a lot of hand to hand fighting and rough fighting and the torture scene I guess was squeam inducing. But, it didn't really bother me much. Or, I didn't see it as excessive or very much so, or gratuitous. It didn't jolt me out of the fantasy like "Passion of the Christ."

So much for the violence. Otherwise, I think it is probably better than any other Bond movie. I like Daniel Craig a lot, especially as he is portrayed as a young, cocky, still with a few rough edges, newly trained and promoted "00." I found him very charming and attractive and his muscular physique made his strength and toughness very believable.

The first chase scene borrows a lot from "Russian Street Climbing" and is very engaging and entertaining. Lenore said it seemed like they were super heroes without the powers.

I enjoyed the updated use of technology and the ability of MI6 to communicate with and track Bond anywhere. This was especially apparent and useful to the story and its emotions during the medical emergency/defibrillator scene.

As I said, the torture scene was a little squeam inducing, especially for guys. But, Bond's reaction to Le Chiffre, helped to lessen that squeamishness and added a very interesting twist to it. I thought, "He's going to take it, defy him, mock him and die like a real man." This was a very good bit of acting by Daniel Craig and it made his new character. The new young Bond is unbreakable, undeterred, unbelievably strong and resilient and resourceful, yet believable. This portrayal and approach made him less of a caricature.