SPOILERS
Well after the opening 30 minutes I was absolutely hooked, it's a first class opening act right up to and including the Shanghai skyscraper sequence. After that the film meandered a little for me, there were far too many homages to past Bond films which took me right out of it - worst one being Moore's crocodile run, the only reason Bond and Henchman #42 fell in that pit was for that homage, and like a lot of the second act action sequences ultimately felt pointless, but I realise a lot of folk enjoy that kind of thing. Silva's 'The Dark Knight' tribute again felt a little 'for the sake of it', at least Joker's capture in Dark Knight had a point (he needed to get Lau) but Silva's motive for being captured was hazy at best, his attack at the hearing was just as achievable without the grand escape. Also what happened to the list? It was a pretty good macguffin just left in open play and unresolved. Bonds physical limitations, the shakes and an inability to shoot straight were nice touches that made him more human but were quickly forgotten for the big fight at the end, a scene during the conclusion where he aces the tests would of been nice.
The film played like a transition between the gritty reality based Bond of the past two films into the more traditional Bond, and those parts didn't work for me. But, it looked great, performances were as good as anything you'll ever see in a Bond film and Bond has never been as rich and complex a character than he has in this film. I loved parts of it but other things just grated on me, a top 5 Bond film in many ways, a bottom 5 Bond film in other ways, with a little more thought and restraint could easily have been much more.
