Casino Royale Review

For 3/4 of its running time, I figured that Casino Royale was poised to become the best Bond film in ages.

I should preface this review by saying that I am a pretty big fan of the Bond series. I've seen them all a few times. I'm a Connery fan rather than a Moore fan, and I think that Dalton is the most underrated, while Brosnan is the most overrated.

I liked that Casino Royale was going back to the basics. Die Another Day was a tad over the top for my liking. So, tonight I settled into my seat and was hoping to see something very rare, a Bond film that was actually emotionally involving.

And for the longest time it was. I was making a mental checklist at how every Bond staple seemed fresh and original this time out.

First off, Daniel Craig is fantastic as Bond. This Bond actually seems....gasp...human, and his enormous ego is seen as being...no way...an actual weakness. Le Chiffre is a great addition to the Bond rogues gallery of villains; a maniacal terrorist banker who is actually allowed to be vulnerable for a change (and the fact that he cries blood is one of those lovely little details all the great Bond villains have). And Eva Green easily surpasses every Bond girl since Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

So, where did it all go wrong?

Two words. Plot Twists! Don't worry, I will tread carefully so as not to reveal any of these "brilliant" twists.

Can we please put a moratorium on plot twists...please? For every movie that has a plot twist that actually brings you closer to a character, there are ten other movies that throw them out because they don't know how to write believable character arcs and they need to wake up their audience.

The plot twists in Casino Royale are so convoluted that the biggest emotional moment in the entire film, and what should be the biggest emotional moment in the entire series, is a confusing mess. It takes a minute of exposition after the scene is over for the audience to finally understand why we should have cared about it in the first place.

The last act of Casino Royale is disasterous!!! Every emotion rings false. Every twist is unnecessary. Every second is awful.

Casino Royale is a bad bluff. You think you're getting ready to see a Royal Flush, but in the end you realize that all they ever had was a pair of dueces.

Star Rating - ** (out of 4)