From Russia With Love (James Bond 007)

The first half of this was an utter mess. Not only were many of the performances bad, but the story was confusing in places. I failed to understand the significance of the dude taking the shot for Bond for example. And the Russian Spectre woman's performance is downright awful. The teaser with the Bond mask is beyond ridiculous too.

Once we get to Robert Shaw and the spyjinks on the train, things pick right the heck up. We don't see Blofeld yet and we don't know who's playing him, but he's already cool.

First appearance of Q. Desmond Llewelyn had a remarkably long run as that character. It's sort of amazing how long he was that franchise's constant. Besides John Cleese (who actually played his protege), he's the only guy to play Q in the original continuity.

The greenscreen in the car chase at the end wasn't noticeably bad this time, but it sure was for the gondola ride down the canal at the end. Sheesh.

I regret watching Daniel Craig first. Because James Bond is supposed to be funny and a guy who enjoys life. Craig was always so angry and damaged and it's not the same experience. This portion of the canon is fun. And that's kind of cool.

That being said, I'm not down with Bond slapping women. For the record, he IS still a heel.

I didn't like that as much as Dr. No, and the first half sucked butt, but it got better as it went along. ***1/2.