Movie and Television Reviews

Link: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site/

Casino Royale is not only the best Bond film of all time, but one of the best spy movies I’ve ever seen. Daniel Craig makes an excellent Bond. Gone are the cheap wise-cracks and pretty boy looks and we’re introduced, instead, to Craig’s masculine, almost apish mannerisms and stoic demeanor, the marks of a cold killer. Craig brings a new physicality to Bond not seen since Lazenby and surpassing even of Sean Connery on display in the brutal, perfectly choreographed fight scenes and realistic stunts.

The film doesn’t start with an over-elaborate chase or cheap applause-begging leaps with British flags on parachutes. Instead, we’re introduced to the new Bond with a display of his icy killing style as he procures the requisite two kills necessary for his 00 status. From there we move on to the most exciting foot chases in all filmdom. I was safely seated in my rocking chair and sipping my diet Coke and I was scared. The plot briskly gallops from strength to strength. Rather than the usual pussy-stroking megalomaniac who wants to start a nuclear war or take over the gold supply, we get a nice little plot involving a desperate terrorism financier who needs to win one hundred million dollars (pounds would have been nice) in a card game because Bond foiled his plans. Guess who happens to have the best poker-face in MI-6? Bond’s vulnerability is his love for Vesper, a beautiful, very English fellow agent who would extract every breathing man’s vulnerability except Richard Simmons-maybe. This new Bond bleeds too; he gets well-tortured by the villain, Le Chiffre, in a way that might interfere with date performance. Gentlemen, during this scene might be a good time to refill that Sprite. You've been warned.

I was afraid going in bond would further suffer a little PCing-up a la M’s dressing-down of Bond in Goldeneye. I am thrilled to report that no such thing happens and we even go a little in reverse. Vesper is feminine and follows Bond’s commands to get out of the way while he takes care of business and even the press gets ribbed a little by creating a scandal over one of Bond’s adventures.

The future of Bond is in good hands and I even hope they go right through Flemings’ novels all over again. Please erase the Moore Moonraker from my memory.

Outrageous PC moment: One of the terrorists conspicuously wears a cross. The film-makers don't want to give the impression that a certain religion that starts with an "I" and ends in an "M" is responsible for more terrorism than Christians. After all, what about the Crusades?