Better than Expected

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2007)

For all the poker fans like me.
I'm no critic, but I'm a big fan of action films and any film that revolves around either gambling or poker in general as I love to play No Limit Texas Hold'em. So Casino Royal was a nice combination of both. There's no doubt that "Rounders" is the best poker movie I've seen. And I've just recently watched "Redline" which is a car racing movie that focuses on action primarily, but gambling is the central theme and there is some poker being played in the film as well. It was pretty good (action/gambling parts) but didn't have as much poker as I would like to have seen. "Lucky You," which hasn't come out yet, will be my next conquest in this genre of films and I can't wait for that. Before I saw Casino Royal, my thoughts were that the filmmakers would "play up" the poker and gambling theme in the trailers, artwork, etc, but when I went to see the film, there would be little to no actual poker being played. That is where this film surprised me. I loved this movie. The entire last act took place around a high stakes poker table which totally rocked. Although the actual hands played, in the final scene were a bit unrealistic, (unlike Rounders) the drama that unfolded kept me on the edge of my seat. (Spoiler - including a little twist where Bond is poisoned and nearly has a heart attack right there at the table.) As if wagering $1 million on a hand isn't enough to give one a heart attack. As for the rest of the movie, poker/gambling aside, it was as good if not better than the last few bond films. The first major action sequence was absolutely incredible. Mostly because of the stylistic "Jackie Chan" type chase scene where Bond is chasing down a guy that can scale/jump/maneuver around just about any obstacle and Bond has to follow. I was floored by this sequence. Great action. I was reading another user comment about Bond's appearance. I too, at first, had issues with this but got over them quickly. Bond barely speaks throughout the first half of the film. But actor Daniel Craig knows how to turn it on when he needs to and did a great job when he does speak. I think he's a good actor and we'll be seeing a ton more of him for sure. One of things that I really REALLY liked about this movie, as a prequel, was how they showed Bond's as a man who actually cares about women, even though his love actually screws him, (but didn't have a choice) and that he's not just some womanizer. It shows how it is his loss of love, (and fear of attachment because of it) that makes him who he is today when it comes to women. In the beginning, it shows him react to a woman he slept with who has just been killed. He seems cold, dispassionate. But later we realize that he is hurt by these losses and from then on, we'll assume he chooses to "Not get attached" because he doesn't want to be hurt. You don't expect to see this sort of "character development" in a bond film. Great Job all around.