Bond has a long history to live up to, and Casino Royale does so admirably

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2007)

When asked if he wants his Vodka Martini to be shaken or stirred, we hardly expect James Bond to reply 'Does it look like I give a damn?' Prior to the release of Casino Royale much had been made of the expectation that Craig's Bond would be a more physical, more cynical, and much colder character. But did we ever expect the man who once regretted not spotting a villain for his ignorance of the rule of only having white wine with fish to have such disregard to his tipple of choice? Yes, this incarnation of Bond really is different, and the world around him has changed as well. The black and white film of the pre-credits scene is not the only reflection of noir in the most violent of the franchise yet (with the possible exception of Licence To Kill, still the only Bond film to break into the 15-certificate territory). Gone, for the most part, are the gadgets; something that is probably a blessing following on from the appalling idea to kit Bond with an invisible car  I mean, come on!  in Die Another Day. And perhaps best of all, Casino Royale actually tries to engage our emotions a bit more than the days of old. Say the words 'shower scene' with regard to Bond, and a repeat of the soapy but oh-so-clichéd shower sex of the finale of A View To A Kill come to mind. In Casino Royale, Bond finds his girl sitting in the shower sobbing at the murders she has just witnessed Bond commit. Normally this would provoke Bond to either give her a bit of a slap and tell her to pull herself together, or pick her up and tell her everything will be OK. Instead, he simply sits down with her in silence, and simply provides a shoulder to cry on, literally, perhaps the most tender, bittersweet moment in Bond history. The acting of Craig and Green here is good enough to grace any film.
Some things are still the same of course, particularly the villain's tears of blood, which match the traditional trend for physical abnormality in Bond's nemeses. Blofeld not only entered Bond's world with that horrific scar, but by the time he finally exited (being rather ridiculously dropped from a helicopter down a factory chimney in For Your Eyes Only) he was also wheelchair-bound; Scaramanga had that famous third nipple; and rumours abound that the reason Goldfinger needed such a big laser was that he needed to compensate for his lack of trouser-filling ability. Daniel Craig would seem to have no such worries of course, as while we're on the subject of Bond below the waist, we should recognise that the honour falls to Craig of being the first Bond to be told that he has a 'perfectly-formed arse.' Oooooh matron.
Is all this change for the good? Well, apart from the sad lack of traditional Bond theme music appearing in the main body of the film itself, yes  because the action is as good as ever (despite the surprising lack of a grand finale battle sequence of the scale we have become used to), and because Die Another Day really was that bad.
In that now seemingly long-ago childhood, before I cared about cricket, football or music, all I really cared about for any length of time were aeroplanes and Bond films. And if I want to indulge again in those days of kiddy-geekness, to be able to do in with something exuding style AND substance in such amounts as Casino Royale makes for happy reminiscing.