Top shelf Bond worthy of all the Bollinger.

It even found a way to incorporate the silly gun barrel sequence into the actual movie. A dark and gritty cold open leads to another more traditional African action sequence, where Bond's contrasts with the Parkour champion further develop his character. This is also a very good classical action sequence, full of little mini dramas and jokes. Bond's relationship with M is also interesting enough right off the bat.

The script is good at keeping these different elements in check, we get enough character development and action at the same time, in order not to make this three hours long.

I know at the time people talked about how different a Bond movie this is, but in retrospect, what i notice is how much a "Bond" movie this is. Yes Craig's Bond is much less likely to smile, but it has many classic hallmarks. It seems EON grew less willing to deal with any risks after this.
They seem to have forgotten that "Yes..... Considerably" is one of the best one-liners of the whole series. Chris Cornell's song fits in very well. Mads Mikkelsen is great, one because he is a very very good actor, but despite the tears of blood thing-- he is fairly normal with fairly normal motivations and actions. Even the sardonic wit between Bond and Vesper works very well. Bond doesn't have to be earnest to be honest.

The torture scene is a very good example of how the script can work to give the two actors enough room to make a real connection and make sure we remember it even in a fairly short scene.

And the script also sets up a clear frame for the story and we dont spend too much time with investigation. When an action movie tries to become a decective movie, this is how these movies become very long.

You know his name indeed1