Casino Royale

"This may be too much for a blunt instrument", one of M's most memorable lines gave me an enlightening cause to speculate the genre of this Bond flick...the beginning of 007, the 'diamond in the rough' in the mold of MI-6...that's why this instalment seems like such a estounding departure from your classic suave and romantic personae of that world known fictional British secret agent, James Bond (played by Daniel Craig)...

I must agree with Yee Boon when he says this was bad...lacklustre rendition of 007 has much to be desired...too many stunts, too many corny lines (especially Bond's witty pick-up lines), not too mention, the greatest departure from Bond's 'vodka martini, shaken, not stirred'...there was a scene where he was asked and he responded "Does it look like I give a damn?"?? WHAT?? That's not even British...Man...this does not following suit...like the previous instalments. A significant departure from the Bond we know, despite the fact that this movie seeks to portray the beginnings of the secret agent spy...


This must be a Bond movie with the most short-lived debut of his car, the too-brief appearance of Bond's DBS which ended up in a riduculous and violent end...seems that all his cars are not built to last till the next Bond instalment...no hidden rocket launchers this time, just a concealed defibrilator...which doesn't even work properly *grin*...

And the 2 bond girls- Solange (played by Caterina Murino), consort of Alex Dimitrios (just one of MI-6's known associate to Le Chiffre) whom didn't even survive the movie before a screw with Bond...and, Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green, well, strongheaded and sardonic...not my type of girl, but certainly has character...Bond's love interest in this movie, plenty of 'hard-to-get' at frist, but succumbs to Bond's charms...naturally...and predictably...
Of course, you would expect to see Bond taking on a dozen men with automatic assault rifles against his semi-auto pistol, and still survives... very much like a typical Hong Kong police-hero movie genre...




And there's Le Ciffre (played by Mads Mikellsen), banker and accountant to the world's terrorist organisation, playing a high stakes game with their cash, putting them in stocks which are bound to plunge, only to artificially (and by very unlawful means, I might add), push them up, to make a profit...thanks to Bond, Le Ciffre was nearly Nigerian terrorists' meat...

One thing's for sure...M (played by Dame Judi Dench) is the only character in the movie which made any sense...nearly gave out what her 'M' stands for...hopefully, will be revealed in the next movie...
Then of course, like the movie's name sake, the scene from Casino Royale in Montenegro (formerly Serbia and Montenegro, as Sankar pointed out) a high stakes game of Hold Em' Up Poker, 10million to play and 5 million to buy-in, should you lose the first 10million...the only way (apparently) Bond could infiltrate Le Ciffre's plans. You should watch the turn of events, Bond poisoned, fist fight and all...

Not so orignal entertainment and definitely lacks the suave attributes of the secret agent...I'd give it a 6/10 for effort, at least...