by Anthony Hillman

Created on: February 03, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Like many Bond fans, I was apprehensive of watching Casino Royale. Daniel Craig seemed to be completely miscast as the suave and sophisticated secret agent, and the idea of taking the story back to the beginning just reeked of Batman Begins.
When I eventually did go to see it, however, I was not only pleasantly surprised but completely blown away.
From the opening scene in black and white - a montage of a discussion between 007 and a traitorous boss, and his very first kill - the visual aspect of this movie had me. The title credits depicting fights, with the symbols of the four playing card suits mixed in with live action footage of James Bond being given his 00-status was the first time I hadn't been bored during a James Bond title credit. Whether this is because it's actually entertaining, or because of Chris Cornell's theme tune, I'm not sure.

When we get to the movie proper, we are treated to one of the best action set-pieces I've ever seen in a movie, with Bond chasing a free-running bomb maker around the streets. This one adrenalin packed scene goes through a construction site, the top of a crane, and ends in an ambassadors office.
The rest of the movie isn't quite as action-packed, but it never lets up with the impressive visuals. And then around half way through you come to a shocking realization. Daniel Craig is actually perfect as James Bond! So much so that I almost completely forgot that anybody else had ever played the character. The banter with Judi Dench's M worked better with Pierce Brosnan's swagger, but other than that, Craig nailed every aspect of the character.
Around halfway through the movie comes the part I was most nervous about - apart from the star. The thought of a Bond movie with much of the screen-time dedicated to a game of poker seemed like another bad idea. Stunningly, the director once again nailed it. What could have been one of the most boring moments in Bond history actually became the most tense. The whole cinema was actually wincing more through the poker scene than the torture scene. And then once the game of poker is over, you can sit back and relax because you just know it's about to kick off big time. The climactic action sequence which ends the movie is as stunning as they come - though still not managing to match the free-running sequence at the start.
By the time the movie ended, I was not only eating the words I'd said prior to the movies release, I was beaming like a kid just given free run of the candy shop and raving about everything I'd just seen and heard over the last two and half hours.

10/10 - Not only the best Bond movie ever... in a few years time I wouldn't be surprised to see this ranked amongst the best action movies of all time.

Learn more about this author, Anthony Hillman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.