A departure from the usual Bond, and not a good one.

Rating: 5/10 (17 November 2006)

Let me start by saying for the most part i enjoy the recent remaking of many old ideas, such as Batman Begins and the new Battlestar Gallactica. Many of these re workings try to stay true to the best aspects of the original show/film, but take out the worst aspects, whether it be bad acting, low budget, poor effects etc.
Casino Royale is very much a similar idea, but unfortunately they have got it the wrong way round. Watching it at the cinema last night, i found myself bored from about halfway through the poker game. They have stripped away the best aspects of Bond and left the worst, with bad acting and truly cringe worthy lines.
They have re-invented something which simply did not need re-inventing, and in doing so have taken out everything that makes a bond film, well bond. Gone are the high tech gadgets and fast cars. The bulk of the action is over within 10 minutes and most of it has already been shown in the trailers. The rest of the film tries to be a tension filled game of cat and mouse, and ends up being a far too long game of uninteresting and very predictable poker.
Comparing it to the Bourne Identity doesn't work as Bond has never really tried too hard to be as ultra realistic as Bourne. Some of the gadgets are no doubt real, but much of it is a slight escape into fantasy, such as the underwater Lotus.
Making it more realistic and making Bond into more of an everyman wasn't what, in my opinion the genre needed. And instead of getting his Gadgets from Q it seems Bond is now getting his stuff from Sony Ericsson and Ford.