Advance Movie Review - Superman / Batman : Public Enemies

The much anticipated next installment of the DC Animated Universe is almost here and Clever Name Blog got an advance look at this action-packed movie. Click below for more :

Warning! If you haven’t read Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuiness’ Superman / Batman comics then there will be spoilers below.



I say again, possible spoilers if you haven’t read the comics.



Still with me? OK. Let’s start at the beginning. In the first sequence we get filled in on how Lex Luthor became President of the United States. If you were following the comics then this was no surprise to you, but the public in general may be surprised to find Luthor holding the top office. Apparently after an economic collapse, Luthor steeped in and gave everyone hope, building up popularity and….hey, this sounds like…nah. Moving on. I would have liked to have seen the first few pages of the comic as an opening where Bruce and Clark compare their very different evolutions into the world’s greatest heroes.



We get the first animated appearance of Power Girl in this movie. Allison Mack (Smallville) does a nice job of bringing that character into the mainstream with a spunky but tough attitude. It’s a shame she doesn’t have any experience being a spunky, tough blonde from anywhere else…..



The big news , of course, is the return of Clancy Brown (Lost) who is the iconic voice of Luthor, Tim Daly (Wings) as Superman and Kevin Conroy (Batman) as ummmm….Batman. These three provide the voices that we’ve grown used to over the past few years and it’s nice to see them back for this movie. Also returning is CCH Pounder (Warehouse 13 / Justice League) as the ever-scheming Amanda Waller.

Rounding out the cast we have John C. McGinley (Scrubs / Justice League) who I feel definitely needed more dialog. I have always seen Metallo as a taunting, boastful villain who would talk the whole time he’s handing you your ass. McGinley’s sarcastic tone would have been perfect for this (just substitute JD for Superman) but he has about 4 lines. Levar Burton (Star Trek / Reading Rainbow) also has few lines but is well cast as Black Lightning.



This is the best animation that I’ve seen of any DC Animated project so far, barring maybe New Frontier but I’m a bit biased towards Darwyn Cooke’s art anyway so that’s hard to top for me. They took Ed McGuiness’ uber-muscled style and toned it down a bit but still kept the edge that makes these heroes so iconic. Colors as usual are vivid and I can’t wait to see what the BluRay version looks like, but I’ll have to wait until release day for that :-)



Much of the original material’s great moments are here. The fight between Metallo, Superman and Batman (although the setup gets tweaked a bit), Bruce and Clark trading comments in the Gotham Sewer, and the fight between Superman & Batman and every DC super-villain (although it takes place in Metropolis and not Washington DC). The video takes some different routes to get places but for the most part it stays intact.

One major part that I missed was the whole “Superman from the future” part of the story. In the comic it’s a rather small part but I liked it and it does change the ending a bit from the comic.

DC is just cranking out these direct to DVD / BluRay releases and they have been, for the most part, fantastic. This definitely ranks up there with Wonder Woman and Justice League : New Frontier and is a must-buy for any fan of Superman and Batman.

Movie Review : Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

This has been quite the Transformers week for me. First, I’ve been watching Season One of the original series, then the finale of All Hail Megatron in the comics, and yesterday we went to see Revenge of the Fallen. How was it? My feelings on the movie were a bit complicated but overall, I enjoyed it. Click below for more (spoilers ahead) :

Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Written by Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci & Ehren Krueger
Directed by Michael Bay
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, John Turturro

This is a big budget, Michael Bay action movie and if you walk in expecting that (like I did) you will definitely not be disappointed. There were distinct good and bad points which I’ll go over in a minute and I will lose my fanboy membership card for what I’m going to say about Megan Fox.

This movie introduces MANY more Autobots and Decepticons, most of which were very well done. On the Autobot side, we get Sideswipe (who was badass and rather underused in my opinion), Arcee and two other motorcycles who don’t get names in the movie, and then….”The Twins”, more on them later. Bolstering the ranks of the Decepticons, we have an appearance by Soundwave who has always been one of my favorites so I was worried about how he would be handled, which was not bad. The voice of Soundwave was handled by veteran voice acting god and original Soundwave actor Frank Welker. A bit more Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget than G1 Soundwave, but it worked well. Ravage shows up and was easily my favorite new Decepticon, and then the Constructicons who eventually get together to create Devastator.

There are also a few real people in the film! I know it’s hard to tell but the real actors in the film do a decent job, except for one whose name rhymes with Megan Fox, but we’ll talk about that later. Shia LaBeouf is basically himself with a bit of humor and decent action skills, while I could have done without his comic relief roommate. John Turturro is hilarious, reprising his role as Agent Simmons (S7 is no longer inexistence so he runs a deli with his mother). Sam’s parents steal the show in the beginning with their comedic performances. I was laughing out loud during the scenes where they are packing Sam up for college and when they get to the school. Excellent cameo by Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrute) as a college professor, as well.

So here we go with some Good and Bad points :

The Good

The sound design is far improved over the first movie, you can actually understand what the robots are saying, especially Starscream and Megatron (yes, he’s back in case you already didn’t know.)

The locations are much more interesting. The movie kicks right off with a battle in and around a Chinese factory complex (which I know was in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania but it’s dressed well). We then move to New York City, Egypt, Jordan and there is a phenomenal fight scene in a forest area that gives you a great sense of scale for these giant robots.

The fight scenes are incredible. Bay really steps up the action here. In one scene, Optimus Prime takes on 4 Decepticons on his own and really shows off some serious fighting moves.

Wheelie & Sideswipe are my new favorite Autobots. I thought Wheelie would be kind of annoying, but the humor worked for me. Especially since he starts out as a Decepticon and the scene where he realizes that he can just change sides is very funny. Sideswipe shines in the opening fight scene in China, as he nimbly glides around like a ninja and uses swords instead of guns to literally slice a Decepticon in half.

Ravage was my new favorite Decepticon. He actually does eject from Soundwave’s chest which made me smile and he had guns attached to his hips. Although he doesn’t start out as a cassette, since most of the 15 year olds in the audience would have been lost at that point. Since Soundwave is now a satellite, Ravage starts out as some sort of probe. The movement and viciousness of Ravage was handled well and he appears in the movie quite a bit.

Devastator brings the destruction. That was one gigantic-ass robot. The scene where he climbs the Great Pyramid and begins smashing it like one of the monsters in the classic videogame Rampage was excellent. I just wish that Devastator fought more actual Autobots, but oh well.

The Fallen was handled well as a character. He gives you some insight into how the old school Transformers functioned. I thought he was very underused, given that his name is in the title, but the movie was already crammed so full of plot lines that there wasn’t much room.

The Bad

“The Twins”,who were two small immature robots that are in there for nothing more than comic relief. I have to admit that they weren’t as annoying as I thought they would be, but their urban slang, and distorted appearances became old really quickly…one of them even has a gold tooth. Seriously. I understand why they are in there, to appeal to the teenage crowd, but since I’m not one of them (by a long shot) I’m not interested.

The movie is about 20-30 minutes too long. It clocks in at over 2 and a half hours, which I usually don’t have an issue with, but I did here. First thing I’d cut? See “The Twins” above :-)

A female Decepticon shows up that looks like a human girl and then can change into a human sized robot. This comes completely out of nowhere and I’m not even going to begin to get into how strange this was, especially with zero explanation.

Megan Fox was completely and utterly useless in this movie except to have her bent over a motorcycle or running in slow motion in tight shirts. Don’t get me wrong, I know why she’s in the movie, it’s just that she has no actual acting skill and contributes nothing to the film besides eye candy.

And here is my crazy little nitpick : Why can Josh Duhamel not talk on electronic devices? In the first movie he risks his life in order to place a phone call to the Pentagon and once it connects he throws the phone to Tyrese Gibson. Here he manages to get a radio and after running through gunfire, does the same thing. I know it is a psychotic little nitpick, but it really stood out to me for some reason.

I’ll end the Good / Bad routine there. Like I said, if you go into it expecting a Michael Bay action movie where there are huge explosions with people diving away in slow motion, you’ll have a great time. If you are a fanatical Transformers fan who dislikes change and you didn’t like the first one, you will probably hate this movie.

Oh by the way, see if you can pick out the cameo appearance by a Sharkticon, and I really could have done without seeing Devastator’s balls. And Jetfire shows up! Every Transformers fan loves Jetfire, and I think he is handled well here; I’m just not sure where he picked up the accent. Oh well…

I’ll give Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen 3.5 stars out of 5. Fantastic action and the robots look great, just a bit long and a bit too much juvenile humor. I understand this movie isn’t targeted towards 34 year old comic book guys so I’ll let it slide

One side note for parents of young children, the language in this movie pushes the upper limit of PG-13, so if you are sensitive to this for your kids, definitely go watch it first. It amazes me how many people will take a 9 year old to a PG-13 movie, and then complain about the content even though they didn't pre-screen it themselves.

Movie Review : Layer Cake (2004)

So I’m wandering through Target with my wife a few weeks ago and, as usual, I begin to wander away from the necessities aisles and over towards my favorites…movies and toys. After my usual run through the DC Comics and GI Joe toy aisles, something caught my eye. In the movie section, there was Layer Cake for $14.99 on BluRay! I saw this movie a while back on the recommendation of a friend and it’s a good one. Click below for the full review, oh and by the way…some small spoilers may follow, but I won’t give away the end :


Layer Cake (2004)
Written by JJ Connolly
Directed by matthew Vaughn
Starring : Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Sienna Miller & Kenneth Cranham

The movie kicks off with a flashback of crime through the ages in London. This is achieved in a montage that shows the different eras of drugs and what not, ending in the future where drugs like Cocaine and LSD can be purchased at a very sterile looking neighborhood pharmacy. Then back to the present where Daniel Craig (a few years before he became Bond, James Bond), whose character is never referred to by name, and is just listed as XXXX in the credits, explains his job as a “businessman” not a gangster, who deals in large amounts of coke. We meet some of the other players in the film, then he gets into a car and over some sweeping driving shots of beautiful English countryside, one of my favorite songs ever begins: She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult.

This can be categorized simply as your basic gangster movie : “Good Guy” drug dealer with morals and principles is about to make his final deal and retire, a higher up gangster asks for one last favor, and chaos ensues. But it’s better than that, on many levels.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, who is directing the upcoming comic book adaptation Kick Ass, this is a great movie about a guy who just gets deeper and deeper into trouble as he is desperately trying to stay low key and get out of this life. The film is full of double-crosses and shady favors, as well as false impressions. Many of the characters you meet at first are either not who they seem, or not as important as they make themselves out to be. The movie jumps around to many different locales and never really hangs in the same place for long which adds to it’s frenetic feeling.

Craig is fantastic as the mysterious leading man, you actually feel bad for him even though he is a drug dealer who brought this on himself. I equate this to the same feeling of dread when Cain meets his destiny in Menace 2 Society. You didn’t even realize that you were cheering on the bad guy until you really think about it.

The soundtrack is great and includes such bands as The Cult, Rolling Stones and Duran Duran. I guarantee you that after what I consider to be the most vicious beating scene I’ve yet to see in a movie, you will never see Duran Duran’s Ordinary World in the same light again.

From beginning to end , the film keeps moving and kept me interested through just bout every minute. The finale is a satisfying conclusion to a rollercoaster ride of a movie. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the, as my wife calls it, “heisty” genre of film.

- Jason

Movie Review : Watchmen (2009)

To kick off this review, I'd like to include a little bit of background about my experience with the Watchmen story. I first picked up the Watchmen graphic novel around 1990 and loved it instantly. I thought that this was the way comics should be written from that point forward. It was gritty, real and had an ending that did not compromise and stayed controversial. After waiting nearly two decades for a movie version of this "unfilmable" story, the Zack Snyder directed Watchmen did not disappoint.

Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is how you make an adult superhero epic! Spoilers for both the book and the movie follow, so be aware before you continue below...and you may want to get something to drink, this is a long one.

I'm writing this review before I read any other reviews online or in other media so this is my own undiluted view of the film. I'm trying to convince my wife to write a guest review from the point of view of someone who hasn't read the book, or many comic books at all. She absolutely loved the movie by the way

Quickly before the review, those that know me know that I'm a movie trailer fanatic, so we got a new Transformers trailer (sweet), a Seth Rogen movie about him as a mall cop (meh) and a Terminator : Salvation trailer (awesome).

On to the review : The visuals are beautiful. I'm no film expert, just an enthusiast. The opening credit sequence was unexpected and enjoyable, and the general tone of the film is very dark but not overly so. Snyder uses the same slow-motion fighting techniques that he uses in 300 (which I'm actually watching while writing this) but he doesn't over-do it. In my opinion, it gives the fight scenes an amplified impact and really ups the ante on the brutality. And the movie is brutal...impressively so. I don't recall that much blood and gore from the book and that might be my only real issue with the film as it began to feel excessive at times.

As far as sound design goes, I was equally impressed. The music choices fit the scenery and lent a "real world" feel. The only one I found cheesy was the use of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" during the Nite Owl / Silk Spectre sex scene, which also seemed a bit drawn out but didn't take you too far out of the movie. During the excellent fight sequences, every impact is heard and felt by the viewer making them that much more brutal. This is used effectively during the prison riot scene and the final fight at Karnak.

With regards to the source material, many of my favorite moments were intact in the movie. Rorschach's morphing mask was well done, although without the explanation from the book which didn't really bother me. Doctor Manhattan's indifferent and detached attitude toward regular humans is dead on, as is his origin (for some reason I was always fascinated by the concept of a disembodied nervous system floating around). Even Ozymandias' genetically altered cat Bubastis makes a cameo but is never really explained, although given the tweaked ending that is understandable and not particularly necessary.

My favorite sequence in the book remains (mostly) unchanged, though. When Nite Owl and Rorschach confront Ozymandias in the end, Ozy lays out his master plan in true Bond cillain style. Rorschach tells him that they won't let him do it, to which Ozymandias replies (and excuse me if I get the wording a little wrong, I don't have the book in front of me): I'm not some comic book super-villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did (triggered in the movie) it thirty-five minutes ago. At this point, all hope drops from the heroes and they feel insignificant and helpless in the face of such a bold move. Nite Owl actually witnessing Rorschach's killing is a nice addition in the film and adds a great deal of emotional turmoil to an already disturbing ending.

About the ending, which is tweaked from the book : I had read, early on in the production, that they were not going to use the "alien squid" from the book. This bothered me at first because this book has one of my favorite endings in comics history. It recalls the old moral question "Would you kill one to save a thousand?" In the book, Ozymandias manufactures an alien creature using genetic research (hence his genetically altered pet) and fakes an alien attack on New York City in order to unite the world against a percieved otherworldly invasion. The basic plot is still there in the film, although the movie makes the threat more worldwide by involving other cities and makes Dr. Manhattan the scapegoat as Ozymandias uses Manhattan's powers to kick off his plan. After the attack, the world does indeed unite as one, ushering in an era of peace and unity, leaving our heroes to debate whether this is the best move for the greater good. The only hero that holds his moral ground, is Rorschach, who is silenced as well.

Bringing this to a close, because my fingers are getting tired, this was an exceptionally enjoyable movie from beginning to end and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has or has not read the book. not having read it did in no way detract from my wife's experience, and actually may have helped because she wasn't looking for certain things to happen. I am most impressed that the movie was not "dumbed down" for a mass audience, as these movies sometimes are.

UPDATE : OK, now that I've read some other reviews I'd like to address a few things.

1. CNN has a headline from one of their iReporters (the "i" apparently stands for idiot on this one) that reads "Watchmenis a great movie, but not for kids" Really!?! No shit? Was the "R" rating your first clue or did it take you until the end to figure this out?

2. One of the other things I'm seeing is a favorite occurence of mine in the comic book fanatic community, the "never happy" reviews. Die hard comic book reviewers have been complaining for ages that comic book movies stray too far from the source material and take too many liberties. I'm seeing many reviews for Watchmen that claim that Snyder sticks TOO CLOSE to the source material and that it failed as a film because it doesn't stray far enough. Seriously?

3. "People who didn't read the book will be totally lost." Bullshit, my wife never read it and she was as excited and pumped up as I was when we left the theater. Reason #852 why I married her :-)

Movie Review : Jumper (2008)

Starring Hayden Christiansen, Jamie Bell and Rachel Bilson. Directed by Doug Liman

So, I finally caught Jumper on HBO today and I have to say that I'nm surprised. I heard some good and more so-so reviews. Click below for my thoughts :

So let's start with the obvious : Hayden Christiansen is not the best actor out there. I liked him (stress liked) in Revenge of the Sith and I wasn't a big fan of his in Attack of the Clones. I am pleased to admit that I actually think he did a decent job in this movie.

The basic plot is this : due to a genetic anomaly, a high school student learns that he can teleport hinself (and things he's touching) anywhere he desires. Kid leaves his hometown for New York, starts doing not-so-legal things, and lives the high life for years. A group led by Sam Jackson tracks down those that have this ability and try to stop them.

The film is definitely fast paced and fun, with some great effects for the teleporting (not unlike the BAMF for Nightcrawler in X-Men) and some fun chase and fight sequences. One of my favorites involves stealing a Mercedes from a showroom floor in Tokyo and then racing it through the crowded city streets while teleporting it from lane to lane.

Honestly, the plot is kind of thin. This is, at best, a fun popcorn movie with not a whole lot of substance. I would place it in the same category as The Transporter and Crank...just fun to watch. One enjoyable aspect of the movie, in my opinion, is the way they portray David (Hayden Christiansen) going about his day to day life using his abilities for enjoyment as well as tedious tasks like getting some milk from the refrigerator. I'll probably be picking up on DVD or BluRay to have around for a background movie.

Movie Review : Batman (1989)

Let me take you back….way back, to the year 1989. The Sega Genesis was the must-have new gaming system, serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida, the Exxon Valdez dumps tons of oil into Prince William Sound, and a young man is waiting in line along with some friends in Upper Darby Pennsylvania to see the much-anticipated Tim Burton film adaptation of his favorite comic book character. Click below for more :

I can remember almost every part of my first viewing of the Batman movie (except exactly who I went with, sorry whoever that was) at the now closed down Barclay Square Twin Cinema. I recall the excitement, the anticipation, the hope that they could do my favorite characters justice on the big screen. Back then, it delivered…BIG time. Does it still deliver today after seeing special effects like those found in Iron Man or Hulk, and does it seem cheesy after the uber-dark The Dark Knight? It’s still a great film, although it does have it’s issues, it remains very enjoyable.

Now I’m actually watching the movie while writing this so my comments may seem oddly chronological. One of the first thoughts that people seem to have about this movie is : “Michael Keaton as Batman, you mean the guy from Mr. Mom?” I thought this as well, but honestly, he pulls it off. He really nails the Bruce Wayne persona of a semi-disinterested playboy, then on the other hand he does one of the better Batman voices. By Batman voice I mean adding that gravely tone to Wayne’s voice so no one will know it’s him. Christian Bale sort of overdid this in The Dark Knight to the point that I was laughing whenever Batman spoke, luckily that movie was more about the Joker, who Heath Ledger pulled off with a surprising level of awesomeness. Yup…awesomeness, look it up.

Speaking of the Clown Prince of Crime, we have Jack Nicholson playing the iconic Joker, Batman’s main nemesis. He does a fantastic job of channeling one of the Joker’s personalities in this movie. I say one of them because Joker has many different personalities from goofy crime lord to frightening psychopath. This performance is definitely more of the Cesar Romero 1960s campy variety than Ledger’s scary-as-hell version, both of which are needed in the canon. The origin story of the Joker’s “birth” sticks close to the origin that I’m familiar with but does tweak a few things, which is to be expected in comic book movies. Nicholson does a good job of being Nicholson (something he excels at) and performs exactly how you would expect as the Joker.

Let’s talk about Gotham City itself. Dark, grey, void of color and sunlight, all of these characteristics are well represented here. Something I’m noticing here for the first time, and maybe it’s because I’m watching my older DVD copy on a new HiDef TV, but the movie looks VERY much like Frank Miller’s Sin City in retrospect. It looks as if the color was removed from the film and added back in, but only in certain places (a woman’s dress, the lettering on an ambulance, someone’s tie). For some reason this is annoying me right now, which is weird because I love Sin City but maybe I’m just not remembering that this was there the whole time and it seems fairly random.

The story functions as most origin comic book movies do, there is a lot of information to get out of the way in a short period of time. The origin of Batman bothers me in this instance. I know there are many versions of the origin but this one feels the need to tie Joker (pre-white skin and grin) to Wayne in the past by making him the murderer of Bruce’s parents. No big deal, I’ll move past it.

The other main performances are Kim Basinger’s Vicki Vale, Robert Wuhl’s Knox, and Michael Gough’s Alfred. Basinger is her usual attractive but dull self, and seems like she was just thrown in to add another big name to the list. I’m not really a fan of hers so this may sound biased to begin with, but we could have had less Vale and more Joker. Robert Wuhl provides the comic relief as a fast talking noir-style reporter hot on Batman’s trail, good stuff. And last but not least, Michael Gough does a wonderful job as the dry witted, father-figure Alfred.

Batman’s various toys in the movie are excellent. The utility belt gadgets are well done and the Batsuit itself is great. One of my favorite Batmobiles appears in this movie, before they got a bit ridiculous with them. The thing looks like a fighter jet without wings. Speaking of wings, I love the Batwing plane. This is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite Bat-toys, although Bruce should have invested in some heavier armor because Joker takes it down with a handgun (I hear this is due to a deleted scene where Joker has a tank hidden beneath one of the floats). The Batcave itself is also well rendered and represented.

One big issue with the movie, and listen closely: YOU CAN NOT KILL THE BIG VILLAINS! I was so disappointed that they had no possibility that the Joker would return in a sequel. Although, they managed to screw up the sequels beyond belief (except for Batman Forever which I sort of enjoyed, mostly thanks to Jim Carrey). They did a great job of keeping the hope for a villain alive in Dark Knight (then through tragic irony that got screwed up), so they learned a lesson there. Arkham Asylum is there for a reason, although it is funny that you would house major psychopathic criminals in a facility that has the security of a small town bed and breakfast, but that’s one of the conceits that you have to accept. Besides some cheesy effects that are obvious now, that’s about my only gripe. Not bad.

So, to recap : Does it still stand up today as a good comic film? Absolutely. Is it better than The Dark Knight or Batman Begins? That’s comparing apples and oranges, because they are different animals. I can’t give a solid answer but I will say it holds up through time. This movie did spawn the atrocities that were Batman Returns and The Evil Whose Title Must Not Be Spoken (*looks around * Batman and Robin) but I can’t hold that against it because Batman did restart the mainstream’s interest in comic book adaptations and paved the way for great movies like Spider-Man, Iron Man and the current Bat-movies.

Now I’m just waiting for Christmas to roll around, I am hoping that there will be some form of BluRay capable device and a copy of Dark Knight hanging out under the tree :-)

Movie Review : Quantum of Solace

We received some free passes to catch a sneak preview of Bolt tonight at 7:00. For some reason these free passes I come across are usually on Thursday evenings and I tend to work late on Thursdays. We get to the theater around 6:00 and check out the line for the screening and (as I should have expected) 80% of the line was under the age of 8. My wife, being a preschool teacher had a look of horror on her face and I believe the comment went something like "I just came from this and don't want to spend an evening out in a theater full of fidgety children." OK, new plan :-)

So we buy tickets for Quantum of Solace at 6:20 :-)

First I'll start the review as I'll start all of my reviews : Which trailers did you get? Star Trek, Day the Earth Stood Still, Yes Man, and a new Will Smith movie that I think was called Seven Pounds. I already discussed the Star Trek trailer here, Day the Earth Stood still looks pretty cool, Yes Man actually seems like it will be funny if they didn't just show all of the funny clips in the trailer and the Will Smith movie I was rather indifferent towards.

On with the actual movie. I love James Bond movies. My dad got me into them because he watched them and I have enjoyed them since I was a kid. Daniel Craig is incredible as James Bond and I really appreciate the way they are handling this reboot.

Much more action packed than Casino Royale we get a boat chase, a car chase, a plane chase and a couple of foot chases (nothing like the Parkour-heavy chase in Casino Royale though). The stunning Aston Martin DBS makes another appearance as do, strangely, many Eco-Friendly Fords. I notice these things because I'm a car guy and given the villain in the film, actually, the Eco-Friendly stuf works.

The introduction of the shady organization Quantum will hopefully be seeding many more appearances similar to the old SPECTRE in classic Bond films. The film was fast-paced and had it's usual share of Bond dry humor along with quite a few references to Casino Royale. I would recommend if it's been a while since viewing CR, give it a quick run through before going to see this movie because this one seems to begin about an hour or so after the last one ended.

Now, the disappointments (oh, come on you know there had to be some). Actually only three minor disappointments.

First, there is still no Q. I miss the scenes where Bond visits the Q Branch and gets his gadgets while unlucky Q Branch peons test out ridiculous and dangerous items in the background. Desmond Llewelyn, the original Q, was perfect in this role. The minute Bond walks in, he changes from hardcore superspy to kid in a toy store. Q's role is to guide 007 through the gadgets like a teacher guides a child with ADD. John Cleese did a very good job in the last two movies after the passing of Mr. Llewelyn and would be a good candidate for the new reboot. My friend Shawn and I were discussing this as well and we came up with two more potentials : Simon Pegg or Ricky Gervais. Each would bring their own flair to the role and would pull it off nicely.

Second, the title sequence. Bond title sequences are an art form all their own. Casino Royale's was brilliant. The song by Chris Cornell is powerful (I listen to it in my car) and the graphics were interesting and relevant to the movie. This one, not so much. The vocals are by Alicia Keyes, definitely not on my list of favorites and the song is fairly weak. The graphics have little to do with the film and are actaully kind of dull and blurry.

Third, the villain's plot. I won't give it away here but the villain's grand scheme could have been fleshed out a bit more or explained better so as to have a more impending sense of danger. It kind of gets blown over but I think this movie is more about revenge for Bond and the insertion of Quantum into the series.

Otherwise, great movie. Not the best Bond movie I've ever seen but it's definitely not the worst.