Just got back from seeing Casino
Royale, the
21st installment of the James Bond series.
They’ve finally given the Bond series the kick it needed to get back
into the game. You could see it turning around with Pierce
Brosnan, and I won’t lie, I didn’t
have a lot of faith in Daniel
Craig (even after seeing Layer
Cake), but they really did it.
They take you back to the “early years” and show you how Bond got his
double-O status, then through his first mission. It’s a really fun movie
on any level, but I’m so glad to see it hold its own with other
action/adventure movies that have been coming out lately. You used to
have to rate Bond movies on a separate scale; you can rate this one on a
scale with its peers and it holds way up.
The bad guy is great, if a little creepy, and the causes they fight for
are actually reasonably believeable. There’s not really a “Bond girl” in
this one. Not that I didn’t really like Eva
Green, but she… I don’t know. She
wasn’t really a Bond girl.
The only thing I took a little issue with (and quickly got over) was
that they created a sort of a time paradox. Bond fought his way through
the Cold War and kicked SPECTRE
ass. But at one point, M says, “I miss the Cold War.” If Bond is just
starting at MI-6, then the timeline sort of says the Cold War hasn’t
happened yet. (Then again, of all the stupid inconsistencies and holes
to pick up on, that’s what I find? Yeah, I let it go just like the rest.
If you give up and just buy it, it’s a hell of a lot more fun.)
I’ll definitely be picking this up when it comes out on DVD. If you
haven’t already gone to see it, go. It’s worth the full price at the
theater to see Bond back in the saddle again.