I went to see the new Bond film Casino Royale yesterday afternoon on my day off. The reviews were good and friends who had seen it had loved it, even non Bond fans and females.
I am actually a Timothy Dalton Bond fan as he played Bond as a much tougher and colder character. I also liked Brosnan's smoother portrayal as well so I was interested in how Daniel Craig would play him.
My overall rating was 'brilliant' for a bond film and pretty darn good as film on its own. The beginning was very artistically shot in black and white before the opening credits where we see Bond make the two kills required to get his Double 'O' status. Then comes the first major action sequence of the construction site chase. It is simply stunning with the guy who invented 'parquor' playing a bomb maker being chased. The stunts are amazing especially the contrast between the bomb makers graceful jumps etc... and Bond working out less subtle ways to keep up.
Eva Green makes a good bond girl and is a good foil to Bonds icy coldness with him ultimately being won over by her and her with him. Daniel Craig plays Bond in a much more human way than has been done previously and you can believe Bond would give it up to lead a life redeemed by love and how betrayal puts the final nail in the coffin of his emotional openness for him to become the ice cold womanising killer that he is.
Judy Dench gets more to do in this film which is nice as she is always a commanding presence on screen. There is no Q and no Moneypenny and very few bond type gadgets. The Aston Martin is beautiful though if short lived on screen.
The film ends with many loose ends that I assume will be tied up in the next one.
I recommend this film to be seen and enjoyed for what it is. It isn't Bond as we have come to know him but it is how Bond needs to be in the modern world. Though the cat stroking evil megalomaniac is always welcome back!
