Bond as character study

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2015)

Part of me feels kinda bad that my favorite OO7 movie isn't a Connery . . . but to hell with it, "Casino Royale" is that good. This movie's a textbook definition of how to reboot a huge franchise and do it right. Just pare it all back to the basics: no gadgets, an unpolished OO agent, tie it into topical terrorism, adapt the very first novel, and find the perfect guy for the job. I love that Craig is so close to how Bond was in the book - which should never be a sacred goal in an adaptation such as this, but it's nice that it happened. He's sharp, upper-crust, yet bears the steely gaze of a killer. There's a lethal edge to this guy that makes this movie work so bloody well.
And it's a thoroughly entertaining movie, outside of the Bond aspects. The fight scenes are beyond brutal, they're downright nasty. And the action - be it free-running through a construction site or fighting off bad guys in a collapsing building - is propulsive enough to make you forget sheer size of this movie. In lesser hands, this story would be top-heavy, but they pull it off; and make it look easy. Not only that, but there's even time (in a go-for-broke action movie) to weave in a bit of a love story.
It's just so damn absorbing.
10/10