James Bond and Miss Moneypenny are in pursuit of a man who stole a computer drive with the names and locations of MI6's undercover secret agents around the globe. Bond is about to catch the thief, but Moneypenny accidentally shoots Bond, allowing the thief to escape. Bond, presumed dead, retires to a remote island location. However, when a cyberterrorist hacks into MI6's computers and blows up MI6's offices, Bond comes back to England to visit his boss and mother figure, M. Bond is not ready to be cleared for active duty, physically or mentally, but M waives the paperwork and clears him to hunt down who attacked them on their home turf. Bond is given instructions to hunt down the man who stole the hard drive from them, find out who he works for, and kill him. He tracks the man to China, but kills him before he can find out his employer. Yet when he finds a casino chip in the thief's pocket, he goes to Macau to track down who paid the man. He encounters Silva, who is living on a deserted island off the coast, the man who holds the hard drive with the names of the undercover agents. He reveals that he is a former MI6 agent, betrayed by M, who now engages in cyberterrorism. Bond catches Silva, but Silva reveals he wanted to be captured to get him close to M. He escapes, and Bond narrowly gets away with M before Silva can kill her. He and M must make a final stand against Silva in Bond's childhood home if they want to escape this ordeal with their lives.
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Best part of story, including ending:
It gives Bond, traditionally a very cool and composed character, some psychological complexity and back story, which makes him all the more complicated and intriguing.
Best scene in story:
A fight sequence in Shanghai, in front of a neon-lit building, is one of the more gorgeous fight sequences of the past several years... but it's really hard to narrow down, as there are several brilliant sequences.
Opinion about the main character:
Bond has a toughness, combined with a suave demeanor, that makes him impossible to hate. Women want him and men want to be him, and Daniel Craig captures that intangible perfectly.
