Dr. No - James Bond: the prototype

A lot of the reviews for Bond's first ever outing, aka `Dr No' give it the full five out of five stars. And I can see why. It was (and still is) the archetype for the whole `Bond movie format' which not only spawned countless sequels, but plenty of imitators.

So, if you've been a fan of Bond since the beginning, you'll probably love it because it was so original and ahead of its time. Then again, if you're relatively new to the franchise (especially if you've only seen Daniel Craig's offerings), you may barely recognise it as a Bond film. `Bond' has come a long way since then (for better or worse if up to you to decide) and Dr No could be construed as more of an interesting piece of cinema to see how one of the longest-running franchises all began.

I'm only giving it four out of five stars because, if you take away its originality and generally setting the bench mark high, it's not actually the best Bond movie out there. It did however plant plenty of interesting seeds which would later be expanded in the subsequent films. It's all about beginnings. Sean Connery (although naturally excellent), isn't quite there yet as Bond. In a few films time he really gets going and cements the role as his own.

However, even though I'm only giving it four stars, I would recommend it for everyone. Part of its charm is that it's more like `Saturday afternoon action' which is actually suitable for the whole family to cheer on Bond and boo the baddies.

Unless you really hate the whole premise of Bond then you'll probably love this.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one