Fabulous but different Bond movie

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2006)

I loved this movie! The thing is, you almost can't compare Daniel Craig with Connery, Moore or Brosnan (in my humble opinion, those are the three that are worth mentioning) and it's really tough to compare "Casino Royale" to the previous Bond movies, except for maybe the most recent Brosnan films. Technology is different of course, and they can do so much more with these movies these days, which makes them almost a completely different type of film than the films from the 60s-80s. And Daniel Craig was so different than any of the previous Bonds, and I loved him! I think this is great since this is really a prequel to all other Bond movies and James is portrayed as more rugged, less refined and of course, more prone to becoming emotionally attached to women. Then when you think about Connery, Moore and Brosnan playing the part after he has been around the block a few times, you can see why they were so much more refined than Craig's Bond and have anything but an emotional attachment to women. Craig is more of an Indiana Jones type, the kind of guy you expect to be killing and beating the crap out of the bad guys. What's fantastic about the later (really earlier) Bond's (Connery and Brosnan especially) is that they were so refined and didn't look at all like dudes who could kill and kick ass the way they did. Obviously this refinement came from years on the job and Craig shows us what Bond was like when he was first let loose. And of course, every Bond movie has to have the ludicrous opening scene where Bond is chasing the bad guy and kicking his ass in mid air after jumping out of a plane, or on skis, or whatever... but the mandatory, ludicrous beginning chase/ass-kicking scene in Casino Royale blows them all away! Great Bond movie! Probably my favorite, although I do feel a little bit like it's not fair to compare this movie with the earlier Bond movies, they are really not even in the same ball park. Craig is an awesome new Bond! This movie also had a couple unexpected twists and some great action scenes strategically placed in the middle of what non-poker players probably didn't understand (myself included). It was really the first time I felt pity for the Bond character, the first time I really felt emotion well up inside me because of something that happened in a Bond movie. As always, it was a great mix of humor and action, but Casino Royale also added the drama aspect, which is usually absent in Bond movies. Also we did without most of the cheesy one-liners, which I know are an integral part of any Bond movie, but I can't say I really missed them.