Bond is back..better than ever!

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2006)

Thank God for Martin Campbell/Daniel Craig/Broccoli combination..I had been aching to see this and besides a few things, this movie absolutely brought back the Bond franchise to life! I remember seeing the old Bond movies as a kid with Sean Connery and Roger Moore and then seeing the re-invention with Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan..Whilst the old Bond movies are undeniably classics, the re-invention didn't grab by attention. Dalton was too wooden and despite GoldenEye's success, the franchise truly disintegrated into a poor caricature of itself..bottoming out with the truly awful tripe with Halle Berry..can't even remember the name, to be quite honest!
And now, Casino Royale! It's hard, it's brutal and edgy and Bond is not as sophisticated as yet and it shows and that to me is amazing..He's still learning the ropes, making mistakes but shows glimpses of why he's the best MI6 have got! I thought Daniel Craig was fantastic! Probably not the prettiest Bond or the most suave, but definitely realistic, intense and charismatic..But then again, I have been a fan since Enduring Love and LayerCake days, so perhaps I am biased?
Absolutely loved the first half of the movie! The initial black and white opening, the free-running sequence, the airport sequence etc.. were fantastically staged..The lack of gadgets also meant that this time around Bond had to rely on his skills and his street smarts and that gave the movie a realistic grounding. Le Chiffre was also a great character..not menacing, but you knew that Bond had a adversary every inch his equal, at least in street smarts and poker playing skills!
The things I didn't like in the movie: Le Chiffre was killed off but not by Bond, and quite abruptly and simply..I would have liked a better end for Le Chiffre..But then again, I haven't read the book so I cannot really say much about Le Chiffre's death in the movie..
The romantic angle with Vesper Lynd puzzled me at first but as I thought about it more, I realized what they were trying to portray..I may be wrong, but this is my opinion..Bond did really fall for Vesper Lynd, that much is there for all to see. Here he is, a hard-edged, cold-blooded killer and he is probably in love, real love, for the first time ever in a long, long time. He wants it to be real but she screws him over, for whatever reason that it may be..He gets hurt, loses her and probably vows never to love again coz now he knows the pain of losing a lover and in his job, getting close to someone could kill him! You see Bond at the end talking to M and he has a hard look in his eyes when talking about Vesper Lynd..He was betrayed and he's never going to let that happen again..I thought the romantic angle played out too long and the movie was around 20 minutes or so a bit long, but I walked out of the movie theater absolutely amazed! Was this the same franchise that gave us Timothy Dalton and the last two Pierce Brosnan Bond movies that I cannot even remember? Wow! Please don't ruin this franchise..I hope they retain the brutal, edgy, dark undertone running throughout the movie! And Daniel Craig, kudos! If he keeps true to his Casino Royale Bond portrayal, I have a feeling he could be the best Bond ever..after Connery :-) No, no one will ever beat Sean Connery..Too suave, too cool, too sophisticated, too much! Enjoy and prepare to be dazzled!