An instant classic? A fan review.

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2006)

Now, i don't normally write comments/reviews that often, and normally only feel motivated to when a film is particularly good or horrendously bad. The good news is that Casino Royale does not fall into the latter category. I am, as many have written before, a huge bond fan, DVDs, collectible cars, books, all of that stuff. Casino Royale felt to me to be the quintessential modern bond flick. It has everything, it really does, apart from Q. Not that this annoys me at all. Strangely enough, myself and a friend of mine both thought that it worked well without this formulaic section in it. As it is Q wasn't in the book anyway so....
The lack of gadgets suited the weighted storyline with it's well delivered twists, bluffs and double bluffs. We see a vulnerable bond, learning the ropes, making mistakes whilst balancing with the 'known bond' through signs of what we know is set to come, one liners, over confidence and of course unrelenting attitude towards the mission at hand.
Daniel Craig for my money is an excellent bond. He's as convincing a fighter as Connery ever was (remember the train fight in from Russia with love), he can actually act very well and he seems to be dynamic enough to deliver lines convincingly in most areas. Two highlights were his interaction with nearly matched Vespa and his reaction to Le Chiffre' torture (Noooooo, the other side!!).
Girls - Two absolute hotties, SPOILER - two femme fatales who fit perfectly into the new world of bond.
The car features briefly which in a way is a shame but understandable, given that he is making mistakes and not being the seemingly mind reading bond that the formula usually delivers. It felt good to me to be watching a bond film and being surprised at some of the outcomes. This scene in particular reminded me of his unsuccessful getaway in Goldfinger.
The Stunts - Well, there's plenty of them. I know, lets put some Le parkour/free-running in, thats not really been done before, which in my opinion is exactly what bond films should be doing as far as action goes. That is, setting the pulse racing to a new type of action, perhaps not done before or an unexpected variation on a more familiar stunt. Hell of a scene anyway.
There's more to say but i'm done. I could say it was too long, a blond bond bothers me, it needed more Aston Martin or more gadgets but i'd be lying. I say, get over it.
This was an excellent bond film which will be appreciated probably a bit more by the fans of the originals or long term fans, and definitely the right direction to take the franchise. If you liked Die another day, you probably won't like this and really should be asking yourself why you like Die another day anyway, it sucked! Overall, I've given it 8/10, i was really surprised as well to have enjoyed it so much, especially given that this is technically the 'follow-up' to Die another day, the worst bond film for so many reasons. Makes me wonder though, how do you follow that up?