Casino Royale

“Vicky, I’m glad you called. Bob reeeeeally wants to go see the new Bond movie and there’s no one to go with him. I need to be at home with the kids. Are you interested?” I should have gone home and gone to bed, but as, for various reasons, I seem to be the social version of a shark lately (keep moving keep moving keep moving or you’ll drown) I said yes.

For those of you who’re in a hurry, here’s my review in two words: kick ass.

I’m familiar with most of the rest of the Bond franchise but I’d given up on it in recent years. The Bonds of the 90’s and the first half of this decade fell flat for me so I’d stopped even bothering to rent the movies on DVD. Despite the initial uproar over this new Bond being blond the movie had been getting decent reviews. Apparently the critics discovered that you can’t judge a Bond by his cover.

The show started around 9:30pm and didn’t get out until after midnight but despite that it didn’t feel long because it never let you get bored. There was a good balance of plot, dialogue and action in this movie such that you never tired of what was going on on the screen.

And speaking of action, this movie does it right. Sure, there’s that great car crash which I’ve heard is being shown on the TV reviews. But that’s nothing compared to the rest of the show. The first action scene is a doosey. I found myself gasping and covering my mouth a number of times during it and hope I didn’t bother Bob by doing so. This new Bond takes a helluva beating during this show. Bob’s initial review of the movie (since amended to remove this comment after some reconsideration) included the observation that this was the first time he’d seen a Bond movie and not wanted to be James Bond afterwards, just because of the colossal thrashing applied to the poor ol’ boy.

You can’t review this movie without making some mention of how Daniel Craig fared in his new role of James Bond. In my opinion he was an outstanding 007. Not only can he pull off all the really great spy action he also has good timing when it’s time to deliver the witty dialogue. Plus, ladies and gentlemen, this is one lovely specimen of the male form. I mean…daaaaaamn… Hands down the hottest Bond in history. Yeah, it’s a trite point but so what? I’m human. He’s easy on the eyes. What’s wrong with that?

Though I could analyze the film further I won’t. Suffice it to say that it was time well-spent, despite the loss of sleep caused by it. I’m glad Bob needed a movie buddy and that I happened to call at that moment. I suggest this movie for those who enjoy this sort of thing.