Movie Review - Casino Royale

Saw the new James Bond over the weekend. First James Bond movie that I've seen in the theatre that didn't star a guy named Pierce Brosnan. So I wasn't too sure how I'd adapt to seeing someone else as Bond. And who was this Daniel Craig fellow anyway? My roommate and I had talked about how we thought Clive Owen would have made a better Bond. But after seeing the movie, I'm glad they didn't choose Owen.

Casino Royale picks up Mr. Bond as he has just achieved his "00" status. As this Bond is a freshly minted "00," he doesn't escape from every situation without a scrape or bruise. He definitely takes his lumps. The opening scene really sets the tone with a fun chase scene through a town and a construction site. The action in the movie is interspersed well throughout the movie and the movie is paced pretty well. Two hours plus zipped by pretty quickly. There was this one torture scene which was kinda on the brutal side, but that was the only part that made me cringe. Bond purists will be disappointed that there is no "Q" this time around, but Dame Judy Dench returns as "M." The Bond girls this go 'round are Penelope Cruz and Eva Green. Cruz is forgettable, Green, not so much...

I liked this movie almost as much as the Spiderman 3 trailer before it. I really think that Craig is the future of the Bond franchise and I can easily envision him doing several more Bond movies. I'm giving this movie a "9" on the ol' rating scale.