Worst Bond film in recent memory

Rating: 4/10 (26 January 2007)

What a mess! I'll try and make this brief. Die Another Day was hardly "Citizen Kane". It was overblown and a bit silly, but it worked. It was cool, fun and most importantly it was Bond. Casino Royale however is not. Yes, the character is called James Bond, but everything is gone. Firstly, Craig doesn't have Bond's look, his head is the wrong shape and his hair is blonde! Where is Miss Moneypenny? The gadgets? John Cleese's character from the previous Bond outings? It just isn't Bond anymore! What I hate is how the Director seems to have gone off on his own tangent, said "bugger you" to all the previous movies and done his own thing the complete wrong way. If this is a prequel, why is it set in modern day? Why is Judi Dench still M? The Director seems to want to start the series again and I for one am not down with that arrogant decision. "Shaken or stirred? Does it look like I bloody care?!" This is practically spitting on James Bond's previous image. Combine all these failures with the fact that James Bond has the wit of a 15 year old (saying tactless things like "your gonna die while scratching my balls"), two particularly plain female leads, a poor and bland opening theme and ridiculous pacing for an action film and you end up with a very forgettable and dislikeable movie indeed. I'll give it a 3 because it was junk except for the excellent chase at the beginning.