> The opening sequence isn't as action-packed as one would expect from the Bond series -- it opens with a brief action sequence, a (seemingly) longish talking heads sequence, followed by an action-packed sequence.
>
> Following the opening credits, the movie slows down for about the first half of the movie. A lot of talking heads for the majority of the time...

Um.

If there's one major fault about the last three Bond movies, it's that there's TOO MUCH action. Goldeneye was a disjointed sequence of set piece action scenes; Tomorrow Never Dies was considerably better, but still suffered through some overlong action scenes here and there. One of the best things about TWINE was that it *wasn't* overstuffed with action. James Bond is NOT an action hero. He's a spy. Watch Dr. No again and count the action scenes. Bond is above the modern wave of mindless wall-to-wall action. Action scenes are an exciting part of the formula, but I certainly don't want them to overrun everything else.

That said, the pre-credits scene contained what had to be the series' most exciting boat chase.

But I think we can probably agree Denise Richards was a bad idea. I just can't picture her as a nuclear physicist. Her eyes don't convey the kind of understanding that, say, Sophie Marceau's do, to make me believe that. Oh well. I guess for this series, Marceau was the acting exception, not Richards.