Casino Royale

Allow me to preface this review by pointing out that I'm not much of a fan of the James Bond films. Oh, they're fun in a predictable, cotton candy sort of way, but I won't go out of my way to see one. Well, unless we're in search of one of those movies my father-in-law, my wife, and I can watch together.


"Casino Royale" starts out by showing us a different sort of Bond than usual. This one is more raw, brutal, and unpolished than the Bond to which we've become accustomed. It turns out that he has just been promoted to the 00 level. I enjoyed this, since it opened up the possibility that Bond might actually screw up, and sure enough, he does.


The plot, too, is earthier. There are no Bad Guys with metal teeth or razor-edged throwing hats; there's just a guy with a nasty agenda who is good at No Limit Texas Hold 'Em (notably not baccarat, presumably so more people could follow what was happening in the game itself).


There are two "Bond girls", and they were attractive enough, though one of them has almost nothing to do in the movie. The other does have real story significance, but little chemistry with new Bond Daniel Craig.


I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen the film, so I won't give away any plot details. I'll just say that for once, Bond is a real character, rather than a video game cursor, and I enjoyed that. Having said that, Daniel Craig is miscast as Bond. When Vesper Lind says he's charming at their first meeting, you don't feel it, and it makes you pointedly aware that she's only saying it because the script requires it. The flaw isn't in the script. I can easily visualize a young Sean Connery saying the exact same lines and coming off as a good deal more playful.


It's sad to see that the script had real promise to reinvent Bond, but the casting missed that opportunity. The two leads just don't have the necessary chemistry to pull off this script. I still enjoyed it just because it was a different approach, and they even gave Judi Dench a real part, rather than largely wasting her as they usually do on a Bond film. I'd give it a 7 out of 10 for most audiences, but 6 out of 10 if you prefer traditional Bond, or even 8 out of 10 if you buy into Daniel Craig's performance as Bond more than I did.