Mr PeaCH recommended the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale, and my friend Jeremy and I caught it right before it left the local theater. I am a fan of the previous 007 movies, I pretty much like all of them. The Roger Moore era was so cheese, with great lines and fashion. Connery was classic, Brosnan was a decent Bond, although not very compelling. I am one of the few who thought that Timothy Dalton was a great Bond. The latest Bond, played by Daniel Craig, is sort of what the Dalton character should have been. Tougher and darker, more brutal and cold. I like it.

The movie itself was great, the action scenes were awesome, especially the beginning where he is chasing that dude throught the construction site. Really good stuff! Also, the very beginning black and white scene was really well done. I liked that style, plus the title credits were so cool. A little iPod-like, but very classy.

There were only a couple things that bugged me about Casino Royale. The first was the CIA agent who was at the card table. The whole movie up to that point was exotic and classy. But that damn American was so… it’s hard to explain. But after hearing him, I felt like the movie got cheaper. I like the Bond films to have really amazing scenery, exotic locales, and mysterious characters. I don’t want to hear American accents or see locations in the US. Like when the plot in A View to a Kill turned to Northern California. *yawn* Keep it exotic: Czech Republic, Bahamas, Venice. Even the space station in Moonraker!

The other thing that was mildly annoying was the copious amount of Sony product placement. The cell phones, Vaios, Cybershots… enough already! Jeremy later pointed out that the equipment in the security center at the airport were all Blu-ray players. Ugh.

Lastly, it was pretty neat to see Richard Branson in the movie. He was in there for only a split second, but Jeremy and I both noticed him and looked at eachother and said, “was that just Branson?” Anyways, I like the direction the new Bond films are going, and can’t wait for the next one.