The opening black and white shots interspersed with the bathroom fight showing is so much at once: Bond’s intelligence to disable the gun in the office, Bond as a physically powerful brawler, Bond as a cold-hearted killer to earn his 00 status. It’s definitely top 3 Bond movies of all time and my personal number 1.
I personally was absolutely floored by the film. Remember back when they cast Daniel Craig and people were saying they would boycott the film? I actually think that helped the film overall because viewers went in with low expectations.