Royale Treatment

I've been a casual James Bond fan since junior high. The girls, the gadgets, and the pithy one-liners always appealed to me, but having grown up in the blockbuster era, I found the pacing of many of these classics a little wanting, so I never got completely into them. I had a handful of favorites here and there, but even as my tastes became more refined with age, I still couldn't say there was one in the franchise that had my rapt attention from first to last frame, even with the flashier Pierce Brosnan installments.

Casino Royale, however, is a new animal altogether. Daniel Craig portrays Bond as edgier and more sadistic, while the new movie is darker in tone and has more of a "real world" feel. It's a complete franchise reboot, not at all unlike what Batman Begins did for the Dark Knight. Sure, Judi Dench returns as M, and the familiar John Barry orchestral cue is there (although not until the very end of the film), but much of the usual trappings are absent. The gadgets take a backseat, with Q himself not appearing at all. The mainstay corny quips aren't there either, but the movie is surprisingly better without them. Even the opening credit sequence is a little different: instead of silhouettes of scantily clad women, it's an animated fight sequence that looks like a 60s pulp novel cover come to life. (see also: the credits for 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)

So enough about what the movie is and isn't. Is it any good? A resounding yes. Probably the best I've seen all year and definitely my favorite Bond movie. I know that must sound like blasphemy to the die hards, for whom the Sean Connery era is somehow immune from scrutiny, but beginning to end this movie doesn't let up. Great story, great performances, great pacing, great action sequences. Casino Royale is a winner. Definitely see it in the theater, and budget some extra dough to pick up the DVD when it comes out.