Casino Royale

Yesterday I saw the latest Bond movie featuring Daniel Craig as the new Bond. It was nice to see the return to classic Bond. There were no invisible cars, no guys with diamonds in their head, no unmanned jumbo jets flying despite being torn apart by spaceborne super lasers, and no bond girls with questionable acting skills*. There were guns, fast cars, fast chases, irreverent quips, really bad guys, really beautiful women, and everyone’s favorite Bond theme music in the background to underscore the action.

One of the things I found most interesting was the casino scenes. Had this movie been made 10 years ago, Bond would have been playing Baccarat or some other card game that is a total mystery to me. But now, thanks to Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, No Limit Texas Hold’em is Bond’s new game.

I’d had high hopes that Pierce Brosnan would have brought us back to the classic Sean Connery style bond. For a brief moment I thought he did, but after Golden Eye the franchise brought me nothing but disappointment. I was especially disgusted with Die Another Day. It’s really a shame that the franchise got so silly; otherwise Brosnan could have been the greatest Bond since Connery. Fortunately for Craig the series seems to be back on track. I think the recent spy movies featuring the fictional Jason Bourne have helped bring the franchise back; The Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy were successful without all the over the top nonsense. Whatever the reason, Bond is back and I’m looking forward to more movies featuring Craig.

* There is some disagreement in my household over whether or not Halle Barry was a good bond girl. Oscar or not, I think she is an awful actress. I say take away what she looks like in a bikini and she was horrible. While my wife disagrees with my assessment of Miss Barry, we both do agree that Denise Richards was travesty in The World is Not Enough


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Casino Royale