Casino Royale

Well I finally got to see the much anticipated (for me anyway) Casino Royale the new James Bond (kind of) pre-quel. The movie opens with a blue tinted and de-saturated Bond (a.k.a. Daniel Craig) explaining how and why he is a double O namely that he has and will need to kill two people to achieve his status. In the scheme of super-spy dom two kills seems a bit lame. And has this ever been mentioned or explained in another Bond? Not to my knowledge.

And then NO BOND MUSIC just straight into the opening title sequence which was absolutely stunning...
sorry for the bad quality of this link but you get the gist. To be honest I was pretty disappointed with the movie. It delved into love story a little too much for my liking. The plot held it back in many ways as the focus became a few disjointed card games held together with some action. Daniel Craig is a good Bond and will be fine to carry on the franchise (he also looks great in a speedo !!) But the movie just seemed a little too long. Sorely missed was Q and his gadgets. There was no super villain only a well acted and ultimately flawed villain who you end up kind of sympathising with, namely Le Chiffre played by Mads Mikkelsen. Also missing is the big set pieces and villain hide out. Oh and a big Bond Theme was amiss. The main Bond theme happens at the end (phew) and I can see why they put it there as he has earned the music by the end.

I think being such a big Bond fan went against me with this movie. Perhaps time will let me warm to this movie. We shall see.
6.5/10