Shockingly Good

Rating: 9/10 (17 November 2006)

Let me first start off by saying that when I first heard that Daniel Craig would be playing Bond, I was very disappointed. I really could not see him being any good at playing one of the most recognized franchise names in movie history. I also was skeptical about Casino Royale being good because it was a "prequel" with Judi Dench as "M" and no Major Boothroyd or "Q". Granted that its true to the novel by Ian Fleming but as the phrase goes "boys and their toys." However I was persuaded by a friend of mine to see the midnight showing of Casino Royale and I was blown away. I was not expecting a great movie, and I certainly was not expecting Craig to be such a good Bond. Craig is kind of a cross between Connery and the terribly underrated Timothy Dalton. The combination of Connery's charisma and Dalton's trueness to Fleming's character makes Craig a good Bond. The only problem I have is that they should have dyed his hair a little bit, its too blonde. The only real complaint with the movie is that there were some scenes that were dragged out and about 10 minutes worth of screen time could have been edited out. Oh and the opening song was horrendous, but whatever (they probably should have used the Dr. No theme). All in all, Casino Royale is worth seeing and it continues the Bond series greatness and leaves great potential for movies to come with Craig as Bond.