Move Review: Casino Royal

I've seen every James Bond movie, all 21 of them, including Casino Royale which my husband and I rented last night.  The first one I went to the movies to see was You Only Live Twice in 1967.  I really didn't think I'd like this movie, but it was different than movies I normally went to see.   Ever since, I have not missed one, and I went back and rented Dr. NO 1963, From Russia With Love 1964, Goldfinger 1964 and Thunderball 1965 as soon as movie rentals came out. 

Casino Royale was really a great movie and I'd even venture to say it was the best one so far.  I was skeptical about this one because once again the actor playing James Bond has changed and is now being played by Daniel Craig.  I'm not familiar with Daniel Craig and I didn't know what to expect of his acting abilities. 

Casino Royale is about James Bond's attempt to stop Le Chiffre played by Mads Mikkelsen,  a financier of terrorists, win money at a high stakes poker game so he won't have money to fund terrorists groups.   The movie takes place in Madagascar, the Bahamas and then to Montenegro where the poker game takes place.  The action is more believable in this movie, and the story line was easier to understand.  All the fancy futuristic gadgets were left out for the most part and the action was the focus of the movie.  There were some romantic scenes between Bond and his female counterpart, Vesper Lynd played by Eva Green.  She is evaluating Bond during this adventure because he has yet to be approved by "M" to get his license to kill.  Vesper is the Treasury official who controls the money to be gambled during the poker game. 

This movie will hold your interest and keep you on the edge of your seat during the second half of the movie.  The total length of the movie is 2 1/2 hours, but you wouldn't know it.  It is fast paced and there are no boring parts.

The only problem I found was trying to understand Eva Green's dialog.  She has a British accent and speaks low and fast, so at times it was hard to grasp what she was saying.

The movie is rated PG13 because of violence, a scene of torture, sexual content an nudity.  Other than the torture scene, I found this movie more PG13 than some of the others.  I would watch the torture scene first before letting my children watch it. 

If you love Bond movies, you'll love this one and you will definitely like Daniel Craig as the new James Bond.  He played the part very well.  I'd give this movie a 10 out of 10.