i think i liked this movie alot, but it was kind of hard to tell with all of the idiot teenagers talking throughout and the woman that passed out during the torture seen and the movie had to be stopped while the paramedics were called.

I enjoyed it, but I felt it dragged too much between the

That aside, I loved the

I guess I'll follow the spoiler trend, since we don't really have a discussion thread.
das

i thought the opening credits and song (i guess by chris cornell whoever he is) were worse than the song by madonna. and that is saying alot! whoever is choosing the bond songs should be immediately fired.

I watched the late show last night and I thought it was okay. I wasn't sure about Craig being 007 but I thought he pulled it off very well especially during the fighting/chasing scenes. However, he certainly does lacks the sophisticated/cool charm of some of the earlier Bonds.

In regards to the movie, I'm also in the camp that they should have shorten the movie by 20 to 30 minutes. The ending dragged too long.

He's the lead singer for Soundgarden and Audioslave.

Oh, and I liked the movie fine - my only problem with it (besides the "romance" segment) was that it had way more beefcake than cheesecake.

I guess I just had a hard time looking at Craig and not think he looks like a bulldog/pug at times, it's his unattractive browline that makes him look like a thug for the most part. He doesn't have the natural charm of a Brosnan or Moore, and Connery had more of a quick-witted, sly, naughty air about his libido without forcing it, plus much more expressive eyes. Craig just never delivered in that department for me, and it's a necessary component to the character of James Bond that I've come to expect from a 40+ year franchise. Plus Craig's new muscles made him walk around like a guy who just got those muscles, he didn't move naturally with them, he sort of walked around with this weird gait to his stride, not graceful. I think Craig would have made a better Bond villian than Bond himself.

But that's what I liked about him most. He's the star high school quarterback. Rough around the edges, cocky about his abilities. He's breezing thru weaker competition until he gets upset at homecoming because of an errant pass. He doesn't become a polished quarterback after getting into college. I liked this jumpstart and the extended love affair and outcome was his interception that makes him look at himself and become the Connery-type Bond for future movies.

Yeah, while I agree with Patman's critique of Craig's choices in playing Bond, I think they were intentional, because his character is not "Bond", yet.

"Shaken or stirred?"
"Do I look like I give a damn?"

Saw it last night much better than the last 5 or so imho.

The plot did meander in a few parts, but it was highly entertaining from beginning to end, and it's great seeing some solid stuntwork in english-language movies. Loved seeing him fuck up and be sloppy through most of the movie, and also loved that he was a borderline asshole again.

My main complaint: where were the naked ladies dancing around in the title sequence?!?

I just got back, and that was a great Bond movie. It's really what the series needed after the silliness of the last half of Die Another Day.

I was really impressed with how the novel was adapted for the movie - they kept most of the main sequences in the book in the movie, and the changes that were made were for the sake of updating or for visual/dramatic reasons.

The end of the story in the book is where the novel is a bit of a letdown. Bond becomes a COMPLETE sap for Vesper, and he does nothing heroic after the card game with LeChiffre. In the movie, however, they make it more "Bond-ian." I'd have to say I prefer the ending of the movie to the ending of the book.

Having just re-read the book last week Casino Royale really worked for me on the level of a movie adaptation. On it's own the movie is even more entertaining and satisfying.

Casino Royale was a damned good movie.

The ending/romance kind of killed the momentum but it was necessary for him to be betrayed by her to become a better Bond. Overall, it was a great movie. That chase in Madagascar was awesome.

In the book the last part of the story is even slower and sappier than the movie - and there's no action of any kind after the torture sequence. They did a good job of taking the book and actually improving on part of it when it comes to the ending.

Just got fm the movie and loved it as well. If it wasn't a James Bond film, it still would've worked as a great action/spy film due to the actors and the direction. The dialogues were absolutely smart, especially between Craig & Green.

What was most surprising was that my wife thinks it's one of the best mainstream films released recently. She basically doesn't like Bond films that much as they have grown too cartoonish and ridiculous (she actually rolled her eyes & yelled "Yeah, right!!" during the initial scene in GoldenEye when Brosnan went on a freefall to get into the plane), but she totally loved Casino Royale stating it was great balance of drama and action.

You mean she didn't go "yeah right" when Bond was chasing the human jack rabbit all over creation in the first part of the movie?

bomb makers are generally chemist they are not human jack rabbitts or ultimate fighters that theyare made into this casino royale. they are geeks

Craig played Bond far too cool during the opening chase sequence, too. It was like watching a robot (emotively speaking).

Still far more believable (mostly since the guy did his own stunt work, plus how sloppy Bond was at doing it... practically destroyed everything, and having no grace whatsoever) than anything out of Die Another Day, I mean c'mon, Madonna as a fencing instructor? Pfft. My only issue was that the opening construction routine was almost identical to the one in District B13, just in a construction site instead of in an apartment complex, and with crane jumps instead of building to building ones.

Sorry if this has been covered already, but how did Bond know something was wrong and went after Vesper after she received the cell phone call by Mathis?

It just clicked, methinks. Alternatively, maybe he had something to say to Mathis and decided he wanted to go with her to meet him...

-ringding-

I think Bond, at that moment, was supposed to have figured out that it must have been Mathis who reveal Chiffre's poker "tell" to him.

Interesting that while this movie opened well and made about $40 million, it's only headline is that it got beat by a bunch of dancing penguins(by just $2 million, not a landslide). I guess the media doesn't like Craig and want to try and paint this movie as a failure.

I doubt the media hates Craig. I too was really shocked to see the James Bond franchise restart get beat out by a dancing penguin movie. Don't tell me that expectations didn't have Bond easily beating Feet.

Oh c'mon, CG + Penguins + Pop songs = slamdunk.

As of Tuesday, Casino Royale has made more than March erm Happy Feet.