holyshitthatwasamazing.
Just a really "Wow" movie. It was very ambitious and daring for James Bond, it didn't try to emulate older Bond movies or follow set formulas, it made its own path and it will quite honestly define the franchise in the modern age.
First off, the older Bond references. Casino Royale annoyed me on how it was trying to jest at older Bond stuff but never did it well. Like "OH LOOK IT'S THE DB5 FROM GOLDFINGER!" That's cool and all but don't make a reference just for a reference, make it count. Here, all the references were funny and/or were relevant.
I like how they made out their "newer" cast. It was able to mix the newer Bond style with the old Bond style. First off, this is a major spoiler, but they got a male M again. I was actually really surprised that they killed off Judi Dench's M. Q was very good, I like how they made him more "modern" and not just some maker of kooky gadgets (his quip about "We don't exactly make exploding pens anymore" for instance). Also how Bond gadgetry could fit into the more modern, "realistic" Bond. Like the idea for the pistol was really cool and it was neat to see it come into action. And by the end of the movie you see they have basically reset the franchise. A new male M like the older days (although I did like Judi Dench as well), Miss Moneypenny returns, Q's there, and it really paves a golden road for the series.
As for the villain, definitely better than the last two villains who almost seemed like afterthoughts. Like Le Chiffre was a bad guy because he was just a bad guy, and Greene was, well, almost irrelevant and he only seems to come into play in the last act of the movie. They both seem so much more distant than older Bond villains and Silver definitely helped bring back the old Bond villainy. That being said, he was a bit too... creepy. Like with the whole coming onto Bond thing and his creepy obsession with M, it was a bit much. I understand he was meant to be a psychopath but I expected a sort of reserve from him. I mean he's running this major organization, he's got to have some of his shit together.
But the movie was surprisingly personal, taking the time to really delve into Bond as a character, including some actual detail of his childhood and Silver's quips about his failure as an agent. I can safely say it was one of the only Bond films to really characterize.
I also felt some connections to the Nolan Batman films surprisingly. In fact the sequence where Silver escapes and tries to assassinate M felt like a mix of Joker and Bane scenes from the last two Batman flicks. I mean he gets himself captured and makes this elaborate plan to infiltrate their network and kill M, much like the Joker in The Dark Knight. Then his invasion of the hearing with M kinda reminded me of Bane, his whole "he can reach you anywhere" mentality. I dunno why, but those just came to mind.
Also stellar production values most of the time, it wasn't a CG fest for the most part and had some really nice scenery, sets, and locales. Bond's fight with the assassin in Shanghai was an exceptional scene, just really well filmed I think. Only thing I noticed was a bit goofy were some of the closeups with a green screen in the background (namely two close ups of Bond and the assassin in the opening motorcycle chase and the scene where Bond is gripping onto the bottom of the elevator). It was an obvious greenscreen and looked a bit goofy honestly. Otherwise, it was really well done.
As a huge Bond fan and as a movie fan I cannot suggest this movie highly enough. I mean Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and this? 2012 has been one of the best years in film.