Bond vs Don

Casino Royale, 144 min, Dir: Martin Campbell

Slightly too blonde to be a Bond, the blue-eyed Daniel Craig is the latest incarceration of the Ian Fleming’s legendry James Bond. From Madagascar to Montenegro, Bond is on a quest to reclaim his client’s money used to fund terrorism. This, as the title suggests, includes playing a high stake game of poker with the corrupt banker Le Chiffre. Help comes along the way of beautiful accountant Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). The intellectual match provides flirtatious banter and it is not long before Bond is head over heels in love. This soft side of the suave homicidal spy is perhaps a bit soppier than expected. Not only does the coochie-coo romance drag on a bit, but there are times when you feel like you are sitting in the wrong movie. Aside from the chick-flick sections, the gadgetry is impressive at times (Bond practically performs open heart surgery to himself, nipping out surgical tools from the dashboard of his car), however at other times the technology and stunts are nothing we haven’t seen before (for those that watch 24 or Alias you know exactly what I’m talking about). Jack Bauer could have been a better Bond. With a silly plot full of twists and turns, characters appearing and disappearing, the exotic locations and Craig’s bulked up frame are the two best things about the film. Oh and of course the fact that today’s Bond is braver than most – he drives a Ford Mondeo.