007 Royale

Rating: 9/10 (8 April 2020)

Daniel Craig's debut as Bond and its all change from the last, only Judi Dench remains, it's like when Brosnan took over, they had great casts during Brosnan's tenure, and it seems they've done it again? It's a retro change though, Casino Royale is the first Ian Fleming book, and they have made this film the same, with Bond just starting as a 00 agent, they even made the intro in Black & White as if it is in a time before colour film, so it's a prequel but made in a modern era, so conflicting with the retro feel and Judi Dench is in the role of M as she was in the last so not making it a retro fit. Felix Leiter is in it as well, but a black feller acting the part, there is no chance a black man could be a leading CIA officer in the fifties/early sixties, so that makes it a strange mix.
But nevertheless it is a great film, lots of drama and intrigue, more gritty, there are a few quips, but not silly ones, not much in gadgets, and more on human interaction and dialogue, a lot more, the action scenes are good when they are there, its very well directed and excellent photography, with great scenery at Lake Como, sorry - Montenegro, yeah they faked the locations, only Venice, London and the Bahamas was authentic, Miami, Uganda, Madagascar and Montenegro were all filmed elsewhere. The music was ok, as was the title song.
The acting is top notch, everyone is good, particularly Craig, Mikkelson, Dench and Green and despite my criticism of Felix Leiter being the wrong colour, Jeffery White acted a lot better than any before. And a blast from the past, Tsai Chin who played Bond Girl Ling in 'You Only Live Twice' is back, at the card tables, with a 39 year gap.
Most of the Bond themes are gone, even the silhouette titles have changed to animation, however we do have a big casino scene and helicopters, the crime organisation is known as Quantum but is really SPECTRE. But no Q or Moneypenny, it is not supposed to have any gadgets, but Bond did have a miniature defibrillator.
Cars:- Aston Martin DB5, Aston Martin DBS can it get any better, and now we know how Bond got his first Aston martin, he won it off a baddie in a game of cards, and also how he discovered his Vodka Martini.
No henchmen in this, and only one Bond Girl, no.63 Vesper Lynd played by Eva Green (French) she is not the most beautiful but certainly the most passionate. Another prominent woman was Solange played by Caterina Murino (Sardinia) bond was trying to seduce her to get information but when he got what he wanted he left before the sex, so not a Bond Girl, but more beautiful than Vesper.
Despite the mixed retro/modern fix and false locations it is still a great film, on a par with Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Goldeneye, I would have given it a 10 if it wasn't for the false locations and confusing retro/modern angle.