Big and beautiful

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2007)

Everything about the latest James Bond flick, "Casino Royale," is big and first-rate. Humongous action sequences, glorious scenery, a tense plot, a to-die-for Bond, incredibly beautiful women, and villains beyond evil. Daniel Craig is Bond, and when you get a look at his body, watch out. Not to mention those turquoise eyes. He's a tough Bond with less of a sense of humor and less relaxed than some previous 007s, but he fits the 21st century very well.
This "Casino Royale" is far superior to the 1967 episodic film which had huge problems including actors who refused to be in the same room with one another during scenes, different writers writing dialogue for the same scene that didn't match, things like that. This version is an actual story, with Bond going after a financier of terrorists, Le Chiffre, in order to take all the money in a poker game. Things don't work out as planned; Bond is nearly killed right at the poker table, among other situations. And the terrorists want the money being gambled away - enough to kill and torture for it.
"That's quite a body count you've been stacking up," M (Judi Dench) tells Bond. Indeed, he's taking people out right and left and acting like a renegade.
Bond, with his loose sexuality and attitude toward women isn't exactly a modern hero. Here, with the excellent performance of Daniel Craig, he comes closer than he has in a while to being a Bond for this century.