Casino Royale

I finally made it out to see Casino Royale tonight. We caught the local 6:30 showing and even after a week the theatre was packed to the screen. It really is no surprise as movies that are good don’t come out of Hollywood with much frequency. Rotten Tomatoes (a very decent review amalgam site) has had the rating above 90% since the very first review. All this sets the stage for another positive review from me. (Sans spoilers so don’t worry)

I mentioned in my last post that I wasn’t at all worried about the chosen Bond. Daniel Craig was amazing in Layer Cake and not surprisingly he is amazing in Casino Royale. So we can skip over discussing that aspect of the film. Although one note guys, my girlfriend said I need a torso like his thus you may find that seeing this movie might be followed with prodding to head to the gym.

Let us start at the beginning; the action teaser was very subdued in comparison to pretty much every other Bond movie. In the past we’ve seen skydiving, plane wrecks, multiple murders, explosions, etc. not so this time and it is an interesting and welcome twist. The next surprise was Chris Cornell singing the opening theme during the titles. I was blown away, being of exactly the right era to feel nostalgic about Soundgarden while still enjoying Audioslave. The titles themselves were excellent with a very interesting graphic style and casino theme. There were no naked women this time; instead we were treated to fight sequences and deaths which very much set the mood for the new brutal and gritty Bond style.

If you have read Casino Royale you can’t help but remember how the main plot line of the card game was covered in detail. It can be said that you could use the book as a How to play Baccarat manual which makes it sound boring, instead it is fascinating. I heard from a friend that they had changed the game to No-Limit Texas Hold-em which is that one you see on TV all the time. At first I was angered that they would change something so integral to the story. Bond only ever plays Baccarat when cards come up in the series (except for a game of solitaire in Dr. No). Much to my surprise I found myself barely noticing the difference and quickly accepting it as a necessary change. Bond movies target audience would know the ins and outs of poker and thus would alleviate the need for lengthy explanations. This also helps to better involve the audience who (at least in my theatre) gasped and cheered at the various hands. I still think Baccarat is a real mans game compared to Hold-em as it is so much more about the players and their skill in bluffing.

It has been quite a while since I read the book but as far as I could remember they did quite a good job at using the relevant pieces and ignoring the bookish cruft. The fighting and gun play were spectacular as well as the Free-running during the first after titles action. Watching Bond wantonly murder is what makes this Bond great, there is true dispassion in his eyes.

Now for the issues:

• Too many ads, although thank god for no Microsoft Windows ads
• Reference to 9/11 which set the time/date very precisely
• Bond is Bond because he was a cold-war spy, now the dates don’t work
• Bond is somehow a computer genius who can get M’s password?
• Umm… Why would she do that at the end, you know with the key?

Go see it as soon as you are able, you won’t regret it.