144 minutes is dangerously long for an action flick, and audiences may be restless during the protracted romantic interludes. 'CRAIG'S THE FIRST ACTOR TO REALLY NAIL 007'
It's all thrilling stuff, closer in tone to The Bourne Identity than the camp quippery of old-school Bond. Even his withered heart takes a whupping when he falls for slinky treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). He's beaten senseless, thrown off ledges, poisoned and tortured. Bond takes a tremendous battering throughout the movie. Following his example, Martin Campbell's film hits the ground running with a breathless chase through a building site, a sequence so impressive that the rest of the action struggles to trump it. Craig is the first actor to really nail 007's defining characteristic: he's an absolute swine. Specifically, he is 007 as conceived by Ian Fleming - a professional killing machine, a charming, cold-hearted patriot with a taste for luxury. The target is terrorist banker Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), whom our hero must defeat in a high stakes poker game at the swanky Casino Royale in Montenegro.įirst things first: Daniel Craig is not a good Bond.
The 21st installment of the world's longest-running movie series strips away the gadgetry to focus on action and character, introducing a younger, tougher James Bond (Daniel Craig) struggling to complete his first major mission. James Bond gets a hefty whack in the testes in Casino Royale, both literally and figuratively.
