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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Willie Oleson" data-source="post: 439719" data-attributes="member: 8">Casino Royale (2006)[ATTACH=full]58985[/ATTACH]In hindsight, the film poster is a dead giveway. The loose bow tie, the actor who would have played the strong and hateable henchman in the classic Bond era is now our 007: this film wants to be called a reboot and story-wise that's what it is.I still think that Dalton's Bond was the most significant revamp especially because it happened somewhere in the middle of the series, only for Brosnan's Bond to return to the more familiar character.Casino Royale opens with an action-packed chase scene which shows that NuBond is equally yet differently fantastical.Whereas many of the classic Bond stunts looked a bit laughable because it was impossible to buy into that physical strength and balance, Craig's Bond actually seems to have that kind of super-power as we watch him and his target effortlessly jumping up to/down from buildings and high construction equipment. "Shades of Spider-Man" seems to be a legitimate observation here.Daniel Craig has his most Bondy scene during his briefing with Vesper Lynd played by the enigmatic and always entertaining Eva Green. She's sort of the new Charlotte Rampling.This scene sizzles and crackles from start to finish and is possibly one of the best interactions between Bond and his Girls.Mads Mikkelsen is perfectly cast as the scarfaced Eurotrash villain even though he refrains from grandstanding moments.The big pokergame part is a funny one. I kinda assumed that he wanted Le Chiffre to win so he could lead Bond to the terrorists who benefited from Le Chiffre's creative banking skills.Surprisingly, James is genuinely upset that he lost the game courtesy of Le Chiffre's nervous "tic" which looked like an obvious trap to me.I had expected James to read between the lines and surprise us, the audience, not himself.Naturally this only served the purpose of the vengeful rematch which unfolds in a predictable but nevertheless exciting way.The last-minute twist takes us to the breathtaking grand finale with amazing set pieces, with a minor critical note that it plays out with previously unknown villains.The only significant Bond gadget is a self-reanimation device and there's no traditional henchman/woman. Well, there's the bomber for hire, maybe that qualifies.It's a well-written and well-executed film, and despite its two and half hours running time there isn't a single moment in it that makes it sag or drag.On the other hand, Casino Royale often looks more Mission:Impossible than James Bond, and this makes the ranking a bit tricky.Incidentally, this was my last rewatch. Apart from the first 15 minutes of Quantum Of Solace everything post-Casino Royale is new to me.Since I know what's going to happen in No Time To Die (it's impossible not to know) I'm feeling quite hesitant about watching it.I continued with Quantum Of Solace (2008) and it took me only two minutes to figure out why  I hadn't seen more than those first 15 minutes.This time I finished it for the sake of completism and that's the only and also the very last thing I'm going to say about this film.Roll on, Skyfall.</blockquote>

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