Casino Royale

Year: 2006

Grade: B

Country: UK

Director: Campbell

Review

new film, new bond actor. here craig seemed to lack the smooth sophistication and class that the better bond actors have had. peter lamont (octopussy, golden eye, for your eyes only, aliens, etc.) returns to work on the production design. the first chase scene features the parkour stunt style. it’s used quite well in district 13 and ong-bak, if you’re interested in seeing more of that. the audience seemed to like it and so did i. this bond film lacked the hot chicks that many of the others have in spades. the title sequence lacks the silhouettes of women and features chris cornell doing the main title. i think this is also the first bond flick done since sony bought the rights to mgm. it was a bit odd to see the mgm lion followed by the columbia lady, but i guarantee it goes unnoticed by about 90% of the population, especially people who (like me) aren’t old enough to really remember the days of studio supremacy. along with sony comes viao computers, sony/erickson cellphones and sony digital cameras placed throughout the picture. strictly business i guess.

all that said, this is one of the better modern (dalton and beyond) bond films that i’ve seen. i liked brosnan and could do without dalton. the writing here is good and balanced, though craig lacks something in its execution. i found him to be too much of a blunt instrument (as m put it), but perhaps that’s the point. maybe his character doesn’t get sophisticated until later in the series. as i’ve never read the fleming books, i wouldn’t know. anyway, if you like the bond franchise then i don’t think you’ll be disappointed too much here. it does lack in the skin department (although we do see craig naked), but it has a gadget or two, a couple nice cars (including a nod to the old aston martin), and some good action. p.s. the guy who plays the neighbor in broken flowers is in this as well.

Watched in theater