Casino Royale Review - for all above age 15 ;-)

Rating: 5/10 (18 November 2006)

In the new "Casino Royale", James Bond has to work for getting to his targets  I mean really sweat it out. From the word "Go" action dominates the sequences with every move of Bond being aimed on his mission. Judi Dench as "M" does try put the brakes on the action of Bond with no success. Daniel Craig does have screen presence and for the first time we get to see a down to earth characterization of Ian Fleming hero. No gizmo's, only business. He is not as stylish as his predecessors but the dialogs do try to make him hip with an attitude. He is aptly supported by Ivana and Eva, the former the usual Bond entertainer and the latter a bit more serious affair or so it seems. While Ivana is seductively attractive  the type bond prefers, married, Eva is a bureaucrat who displays an "I don't give a damn 'bout who you are" kind of attitude from the scene they cut ice.. Bond is in hot pursuit of a murky character called Le Chiffre played devilishly by Mads Mikkelsen.He weeps blood from one eye. The movie is a bit long. It has a run time of about 130 minutes. Things begin to sag 20 minutes into the second half in that an emotional angle is introduced and you suddenly get that feeling that Daniel Craig is last in the Bond series and this is the last movie in the series. For an ardent bond admirer this movie is a must watch for its freshness of characterization. For the action buffs you can see it once if you are able to go through the emotional touches in the second half. On the whole this Bond movie is welcome and unwelcome, it neither here nor there, it is some where in the middle.Does Daniel Craig fit the bill? Hmmm.... my answer would be no.On the whole I feel it difficult to acknowledge this as a Bond movie.