Casino Royale

Well it is for we ladies when Daniel Craig comes out of the water in his tight shorts! You know the routine… Bond tracks down baddies and takes them out…but some of the people around him that he trusted are actually baddies too…..Not many gadgets in this one which is disappointing but on the plus side, some of the babes have brains! Chock full of exotic locations and Craig in his shorts was worth the rental all by itself. Can’t wait to see ‘Skyfall’ now.

2006 James Bond Drama. The 21st Bond film and the first of the Daniel Craig era. Quite simply the best Bond film ever and also the best James Bond casting by a country mile. .What joy it was when this film burst onto the scene restoring the James Bond genre to its full former glory. It is a 100% thriller with none of the embarrassing comedy of the Roger Moore bad times and the Bond portrayal is a real 3D character with emotions. Bond films do not get any better than this and it even surpassed the Bond films that followed it (A Quantum of Solace and Skyfall)

I saw 'Quantum of Solace' and found it to be really well-written, and a nice surprise to watch. As it was clear that these Bond stories tie together, I thought that I must see the one before, Casino Royale. If I'd seen this one first, I wouldn't have bothered with the others It's far too long, and there was no good reason for its length. The supposed love story between Bond and another agent was nonsense. He goes from disliking her (very well played by both actors) to declaring undying love. That was just silly. The card game is too long and drawn out. Still, at least it set the scene for the much better (though what a daft title) Quantum of Solace.

Not the best of JB movies and I must admit that I am not really a JB fan or even a fan of predictable 'action hero' films in general. But I do think Daniel Craig is a good actor and also a good Bond. The action sequence at the beginning of the movie was really good. Personally, looks wise (and the girls are a key part of JB films) it would have been great to have seen more of Caterina Murino and less of Eva Green. I also find it amusing when JB leaves the card table and a action sequence occurs and he ends up bloodied only to see him return to the casino looking like nothing has occured. I realise this was the first of Ian Fleming's JB books but the lack of gadgetry here did spoil it a bit (after all the gadgets are another attraction of JB films). This is watchable but certainly not a 'must watch' and I would not watch it a second time.

Okay, let me say that the reason I’m reviewing this film several years after its release is because I’ve decided to give it a second viewing (in the wake of Skyfall’s success at the box office). I’ve watched all the Bond films, right the way through from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan and, although they vary slightly depending on the story, I have to say I’ve loved them all. I love the silliness, the tongue-in-cheekiness, the witty quips and the gadgets. Then came Casino Royale. I had no objections to Daniel Craig being named as James Bond (after his part in Layer Cake, I think he proved he had what it took). I didn’t even object to the fact that Bond was (sort of) being ‘rebooted,’ showing how Bond became a 00 agent etc. What I objected to was that, in my opinion, it was NOT Bond. Yes, it had action, ladies and exotic locations, but gone was everything that I thought made Bond Bond. I watched the whole film and give it a disappointed two stars out of five, admitting that the action sequences were good, but it was more The Bourne Identity than Bond. However, as the years have gone by and my shock has dwindled, I’ve re-watched it and come to accept that it does have its merits. Yes, Bond has changed. Maybe it’s for the best. Daniel Craig’s (current) three outings have been the most financially successful of all the Bond films, so I guess he’s appealing to the masses. This is indeed a ‘new slant’ on Bond. Gone is what I loved, but it’s been replaced by something – now I’m viewing it in the cold light of day – with some ALSO pretty good too. I appreciated that the plot to Casino Royale was actually a lot more intense than many of its predecessors, plus there was far more reliance on character development, rather than just invisible cars (yes, even I found that one a little hard to swallow in Die Another Day). Although I will forever enjoy the cheeky charm of ‘old’ Bond, I will admit that this one has its place alongside it and now am beginning to look forward to the news of a new Bond film in the making. Now I give it a much more respectable four out of five stars. (I still like Roger Moore the best though!)