Three and a half stars

(PG-13) Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Wright

A young (and blonde, get over it) James Bond (Craig) receives his 007 status and embarks on his first mission against a banker who finances terrorism. A real shot in the arm for the Bond franchise. There’s less gadgetry, but it’s still full of action. It’s fun to watch Bond develop his future Bond habits. Craig shows a darker Bond but not too serious (hi, Timothy Dalton). Can’t wait to see what happens next. 144 minutes. DVD INFO: Two separately packaged two-disc special edition DVDs are available: One preserves the film in the anamorphic widescreen format, while the other hacks off nearly a third of the picture for the fullscreen (aka pan & scan) version. Shop carefully. Both versions include several featurettes and a music video by Chris Cornell.