Watched the movie over weekend. It is worth a watch though not comparable to previous bond releases like Die another Day (2002) or even Casino Royale (2006). The focus is on Cyber terrorism, the new threat of current times. But the problem with such themes is is that the action is in different domain i.e. from a laptop and the main villains are malicious computer programs rather than human beings. So the movie did not have anything new except for a small finger print operated revolver that was used only once, a location publisher chip, something that reminded me of mobile tracker in Samsung phones. There were lots of big LCD screens showing cyber traffic. For those who were expecting something more sophisticated than invisible Aston Martin car of Die Another Day, it would have been a disappointment.
Many changes have taken place with the bond team and their way of working. The new Q is now a young computer expert almost half bond’s age and money penny has a more aggressive role in the field side by side with bond, rather than doing clerical stuff. Thanks to internet and telecom advances, bond is now constantly connected to boss M and his associates, M can track exact location of bond in real time over her laptop/smartphone, instead of waiting for a phone call or message from him to know of his whereabouts. In one scene Q is able to pinpoint the fugitive on a metro from his office room through his laptop and gives bond directions who is on same platform to catch the person. In another scene M is in a press conference with the minister and on her laptop gets notification that the prisoner has escaped.
Action sequences stand out though still not comparable with earlier bond movies. The train top fight and London underground chase were quite impressive. Last month I was amused to see Salman Khan attempting bond like stunts in Ek tha Tiger. But the original is still original.
Overall the movie was good but going forward bond may have to do some reinventing to stay ahead in this new world of high speed internet and smartphone devices