A truly great 007 film. One of the top 5 of the whole franschise!

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2006)

I loved this film. I never had a big problem with Daniel Craig being Bond, but never thought he was ideal either. And after seeing Casino Royale my feelings have not changed. But it wasn't so much Craig's job at playing Bond that made this film great - though he WAS good. It was the writing, the directing, and the cinematography. All of this combined, along with a philosophical shift on the part of the producers, made this a very memorable film. The action was intense and real, but never overdone or staged looking. A lot of action films seem to want to film the action sequences with the goal of making the hero look totally cool and Competent. The action here was more about the characters will and emotions. I have only a few minor complaints about this film. I would like to have seen the opening titles for Casino Royale exactly as they have for the last 20 films, with a circle on the screen following Bond as he walks along before suddenly turning to fire. That was not in this movie. I guess I'm just a bit nostalgic about these sort of things. In terms of music, I would like to have heard the original theme a bit more. But overall this is a great Bond film. It ranks as one of the best of the whole franchise. In the future I hope we continue to see the development of Craig as Bond. And I also hope that some of the features of previous films, like gadgetry, humor, and bizarre villains. These were important aspects in the history of Bond and I would like to see them appropriately integrated into this new era. I would also imagine we'll be meeting a new Q and Moneypenny at some point.