Not bad but not much to tradition.

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2006)

I watched this on the opening night and it was quite good but lacked a lot of the 007 traditions and not enough 007 theme music. No nude dancing chicks in the opening sequence, and where's Moneypenny?
Anyone who has followed the Bond series would know that Bond's game is Baccaret and not Poker. He also likes his Vodka Martinis shaken but not stirred, but instead he makes up this new drink.
The stunts didn't look ridiculously phony although I don't think some of them would be possible in real life.
Other than playing Poker, the mission wasn't much different than the other versions of Casino Royale made int he past.
There were some humorous clips. One of the jokes might be a bit crude but if you like that kind of humor it's funny as hell.
If you are expecting to see a bunch of Q-gadgetry in this film, you may find yourself in for a bit of a disappointment.
All-in-all I still liked it, but felt that some of the 007 traditions and more 007 theme music would have made it better.