I finally seen Casino Royale and it is a great movie. Daniel Craig is fierce, dramatic and has the best comedic timing. A combination of off-kilter dry wit makes him just as sexy. And there is plenty of his skin displayed, especially where he is tormented with an ass-less chair. Where in one Bond movie, which I forget which one, the bad guy was a media mogul, it is an European with what seems to be glaucoma. And as the title suggests, there is plenty of poker playing and high stakes. As much as I don't understand card playing, it works well. The opening sequence is a bit kitsch but it grows on you with a combination of live-animation and photoshop-esque animation mixed with aces, hearts and that whole card motif.
Their Miami sucks, the airport is not belivable at all but they got the skyline right--probably blue screened it. The movie goes from Africa to the Bahamas to Miami to Venice to Europe, etc. The action sequences are suberb and just fierce and rapid. Dane Judy Densch is actually good, she doesn't weigh down the movie (no pun intended) and serves more than her purpose. And James himself grows and looses. The movie sort of explores the emotional stake it takes to be a man that kills and the price that there is to pay.
