"Casino Royale (2-Disc Full Screen Edition)" (Sony Pictures)
What a stinker. Not much of a fan of action films in general, unless they are good, but this was worse than most. If a Bond film tacks on a fourth act, the first acts should get trimmed: 2.5 hours was just too long.
Martin Campbell (GoldenEye) directs this film adaptation (the 21st of the Bond franchise) of Ian Fleming's first novel. Daniel Craig debuts as the new Bond who takes on a corrupt financier (Mads Mikkelsen) in a showdown of Texas Hold 'Em. You'll learn Bond's back story as the action-packed film takes you to the Bahamas, Madagascar and other exotic locales. Eva Green stars as Vesper Lynd, and the sublime Judi Dench reprises her role as M.
[From Netflix: Casino Royale]
And since when did Bond become a genetic-freak superhero? He was given the strength of a thousand men, and the stamina of Spiderman. Granted I haven't seen a Bond film in a while, but I don't remember them being quite so ridiculous in that regard. High tech weaponry, sure, but didn't remember Bond being able to chase a villain on foot for 20 minutes, jumping off buildings, dodging trucks. Extended chase scenes are usually a sign of a weak plot (obviously exceptions: French Connection, and others). Exactly zero chemistry between Eva Green and Daniel Craig - they must have really hated each other when the camera's stopped rolling.
I did watch the entire film, but I regretted it.
