I have to start off by saying that this movie is a real credit to the franchise. I have had just under 24 hours to think upon the spectacle I saw last night, and the more I think about it, the more I love it. (This is the first time I've ever felt this with a Bond movie).
From the return of the gun-barrel at the beginning of the movie, to the opening sequence that see's more action sequences and stunts than a few Bond films in the franchise can talk about in the entire movie. The beginning is exhilarating and breath-taking. Quite literally. The title sequence of the movie is gorgeous. Pristine and sharp in quality, it almost tells a story in amongst itself. That accompanied by Sam Smith's contribution into the Bond theme catalogue 'Writing's on the Wall'. A song which I don't like but its works along with the context of the film.
The stand-out characters of the film are definitely Bond, Oberhauser (Blofeld) and Hinx, with Q also standing a smidgen above the rest. The acting in general is astounding. Craig gives his most confident and experimental performance as Bond, an amalgamation of the Bond's past with his own version of the character filling in the gaps of his psychology. Christoph Waltz is a villain specialist when it comes to his acting talents, and he gives a dark, menacing performance as the returning arch nemesis of Bond, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, under the guise of Franz Oberhauser. Cat and scar also included. The story surrounding him killing his father out of jealousy of him treating Bond better than he treated his own son and then faking his death was great, albeit the reasoning of jealousy being a little weak.
Hinx is a henchmen in the same vein as Jaws and Oddjob, so it is hard to see how anything in his performance, particularly his many fight scenes could go wrong, that and how much like Jaws and Oddjob, he doesn't have to speak a word to expose his true menace. The entire Mi6, Whitehall brigade are on form in this film, far more involved than before. Fiennes has asserted himself into the role as the new M, while Ben Whishaw gives an effortlessly hilarious performance as Q (he even gets the chance to go out onto the field to locate Bond). Moneypenny and Tanner are also prominent, with great performances, albeit nothing extremely unexpected from Naomie Harris and Rory Kenner.
Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci provide interesting takes on the traditional Bond girl as Madeleine Swann and Lucia Sciarra. Both are completely different in their personalities, but both riveting characters. Bellucci is severely underused, however Seydoux will surely rank highly in the list of best Bond girls for a number of fans.
And finally, we come to the action. The action is superb and on point in this film, the helicopter fight and entire pre-titles sequence at the beginning is incredible as already mentioned. The car chase through Rome is comedic and great to watch, especially in IMAX with the sound of the Jaguar and DB10 engines ripping through the cinema. The plane/car chase in Austria is also great to watch and very different from the car chase in Rome, the train fight was a severe From Russia With Love fangasm and the escape from Blofeld's lair in Tangier, along with the rest of the scenes there was the best part of the film. The final climax was also incredible, with Bond having to save Madeleine from the old Mi6 building before it is demolished and to make sure Blofeld is brought to justice by shooting down his helicopter on Westminster Bridge.
I give this film: 8/10
