A game of two halves

Rating: 10/10 (6 December 2007)

When a film has a lot of comments, I often look at the negatives first.
The negatives here mostly express disappointment that Casino Royale is not yet another version of the Bond film which became increasingly standardised from You Only Live Twice onwards. Yes, they were fun, but by heavens, they were stale. Die Another Day was a dose of fresh air to start with before it reverted to the formula in the second half.
But Casino Royale was a real fresh start. It had the feel of the early Bonds - espionage thrillers - but with a modern take. Bond became a more rounded person than the bit of cardboard he has been in most of the movies. The cheesy one-liners were, for the most part, thankfully consigned to the rubbish bin. The performances were uniformly excellent (and by heavens, Judi Dench delivers, doesn't she, in those cameos?). The ties to the earlier films in the series were few, but exquisitely judged - they send a shiver up your spine when they came. And Daniel Craig - about whom I had as many doubts as everyone else - was very very good indeed.
Roll on Bond 22!