On Par With Connery And Dalton

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2006)

I took a few hours off from my job (screenplay coverage for a production company) to go see Casino Royale the day it opened. Half of Los Angeles had the same idea. It was a thrill a minute (yes it's long, but I was not bored for a second). I am a fan of Daniel Craig's and was not disappointed. The movie is staggering in its many layers. It has everything except, thankfully, Roger Moore's winking and Pierce Brosnan's self consciousness. I love the line at Casino Royale when Bondis asked if he wants his Martini shaken or stirred and he comes back with "Do I look like I give a damn?" It would have been funnier if he hadn't been so specific about how he wanted his Martini just a few minutes before at the poker game. Still, the dialogue crackles and the key sequences are riveting. The US media has been making a big deal of Craig's "ndue" scene. I'm astonished that they don't mention he is being tortured in a fairly realistic, prolonged session by Le Chiffre at the time. They go nuts (no pun intended) here if you show a naked man's thigh (that's the extent of the nudity) but don't bat an eyelid at extreme violence. Le Chiffre is a great villain - all the more chilling because he is real and not cartoonish. The girls are beautiful - so what's new! With the long "free running" sequence at the beginning and the emphasis of substance over style, James Bond has been resurrected from the abyss. And not a moment too soon.