Finally got around to seeing Casino Royale 3. It was better than most of the Bond films... keeping in mind that "most of the Bond films" means "Roger Moore."
Recall the three versions of Casino Royale: the first was the Climax Mystery Theater TV-moviette which made Bond an American and Leiter a Brit. Bloody well unwatchable; I made it through the first few minutes before switching off in disgust. The second was the well-known one with David Niven, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, and that crowd, wildly parodying the Moore films not merely before Austin Powers, but actually before the Moore films themselves. Then there's this new one, with the unfortunately-named Daniel Craig (I keep expecting him to be Craig Charles).
It's an OK action movie, though too heavy on guns and chases (both wildly unrealistic) for my taste. Ian Fleming wouldn't recognize it, but any Hollywood stunt or FX person would. And what's with the autodoc in the glove compartment? Definite deus ex machina there.
The Bond reincarnation gets off to a bad start, with Bond, early in the film, being the rogue not-at-all-secret agent. C'mon: it's too early in his career for him to run amok like that and be welcomed back - he doesn't have a reputation yet - and, with seemingly every enemy and tabloid in the known universe knowing his name and face, what sort of secret agent career can he have?
And the card game gets changed to some sort of poker. Eh? The card game of mysterious rich people and spies is supposed to be baccarat! ("No, Pinky, baccarat. The thinking person's game. Nothing but the finest for Brain's Palace.")
In the last part of the film, some familiar plot elements from the book put in an appearance. Still, as far as resembling the book goes, it's just about tied with the spoof with Woody Allen. I really don't know why they bothered using the title.
Oh, well... it's worth matinee, if you can still find one. More if you like generic action movies. From the reviews I'd read, I'd really hoped for something more Bondian and less generically actiony.
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