Could have been one of the best.

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2006)

CASINO ROYALE could easily have been one of the best Bonds in the series. It was great to see a Bond that was a throwback to the classic Connery films. The film is full of incredible action sequences, good dialogue, locations, the darker mood is terrific, and the characters and the women are great too.
It was well filmed and directed, and the casting was perfect, except for James Bond. Daniel Craig is a good actor and I have enjoyed him in other films, but he is not James Bond. He carries himself very well in the action sequences, but he has no charisma, and he lacks the screen presence of the previous Bonds, even when he seems to be copying Connery's style of line delivery. He comes off very wooden in his performance. He kind of looks like Steve McQueen's unattractive cousin, not James Bond!
The J.B is supposed to stand for James Bond, not Jason Bourne (or Jack Bauer either)! It used to be other spy films copied the Bond films. Now the Bonds appear to be copying the Bourne films. Craig would make a very good Bourne.
Too bad, as this film would have been fantastic with the right actor as Bond. I also didn't like the whole reboot idea of the series. It means that all the other missions never took place! If the film was to be a reboot and follow the Fleming book, why is Judi Dench, a hold over from previous Bonds films, in it? M was a man in the Fleming books, and having her there makes the whole reboot thing confusing. The title song is also very forgettable.
To me, Connery was the one true Bond. Brosnan and Lazenby were very good too. Roger Moore was very Saintly in his Bond Comedies, and Timothy Dalton was the worst. I put Craig a cut above Dalton, but I can only hope that the producers come to their senses and replace him as Bond as soon as possible.
I have read all the books and been a fan of the series since the beginning, and I did like the direction this film took getting away from the over the top situations and gadgets, but surely there is a better choice for Bond than Craig. As a Bond fan I hope they can make a change before the next film, as he didn't work for me. The adds say the critics are raving, it will make you forget all the other Bonds! I don't think anyone will ever forget Connery, and the critics are truly raving to even suggest it!
Aside from Craig and the reboot, I thought it was a very good film. I take 1 point off for the whole reboot idea, and 2 points off for Craig.
007 out of 10!