Casino Royale

It is incredibly gratifying when 150 minutes of a film passes like an hour and you are still having a good time. Although I thought No Time to Die set the bar so high as to be the best Bond film to date, Casino Royale catches up to it and is every bit as gripping. Perfect action, the poker games were damn thrilling, Mads Mikkelsen as the bad guy is excellent as always, Daniel Craig and Eva Green are equally so, and as a whole the film just feels polished and wonderfully consistent. A very strong four-stars and I can imagine how much this kick-off to the 007 franchise must have pleased back in 2006. (04/10/2021)

Or: When James walks in Jason’s footsteps... The black-and-white prolog and the first scene after the opening credits sets the bar high, but unfortunately the creators didn’t manage even to come near it for the rest of the movie. The new Bond is not lacking atmosphere, a good technical side and ingenious action. But what it is lacking is a better screenplay to hold everything together better and more balanced pacing. (21/04/2022)

After "Bond" (Connery), "Strange Bond" (Lazenby), "Funny Bond" (Moore), "Rambo Bond" (Dalton) and "Mixed Bond" (Brosnan), here's another guy. Daniel Craig - "Rough Pissed Off Bond". Casino Royale is a gripping film that will keep you interested from start to finish. The "crane and all that" scene is one of the most bombastic action spectacles I've ever seen in a movie theater, and clearly the best of the entire film. But the rest of the Casino is not far behind. For example, I would never have believed that it is possible to film poker games in a thrilling and entertaining way. The new generation Bond did not disappoint - Craig is likable, he is human and not a machine seducing busty nymphs, he is tough as nails and entertaining. Great! (28/08/2009)

After some time, and after watching a rerun, I began to like this 21st Bond film. I also like Eva Green thanks to Dark Shadows and I'm taking more and more to Mads Mikkelsen thanks to A Royal Affair. They have a nice interchange at the Casino, Mads has a very tasty villain with a bleeding eye and Eva is a different kind of beauty than the ones James has been dating. The plot is good, the scenery pleasing to the eye, the action and humor just right, and of course the flawless final point. I certainly enjoyed that. (27/08/2012)

It was a terrible blow at the time. After four adventures with the elegant Pierce Brosnan, along came tough guy Daniel Craig, an uncompromising sharpshooter, a bleeding brawler, a tormented sarcastic, and a rough mountain of secret agent potential. I almost cowered under the seat out of respect for his charisma, but he still didn't fit my previous perception of the Bond brand. The dry lines remained, the technical toys gave way to dirty action, and it was only after a long 14 years since the premiere that I finally realized, during a specific "regeneration", how perfectly balanced the Montenegrin card spectacle turned out to be. From the black and white intro to the Italian shot. (05/12/2006)