Shaken and Stirred

My Dad had an awesome idea - he and mum would babysit so that Robin and I, along with Heidi & Mark coud go and see the new Bond movie, Casino Royale. Not wishing to pass on such a fabulous offer, tickets were booked and all was arranged for last Saturday.

Like many people who have been brought up with the Bond Genre it was with mixed feelings that we took our seats - what would we make of this Bond? And would the much-malingned Daniel Craig be a convincing 007?

Well. Yes, he was. And what's more I think I enjoyed the film more than most of the Bond movies I've seen (ooooh how very contraversial!) Whereas Bond has been portrayed as a bit of an unfeeling cad in the past - we saw a more conflicted and sensitive side to him. And there were none of the comic oneliners after killing some villan in a wierd way. In this, the violence seemed to be taken more seriously, and the film had a more gritty feel overall.

The free running (Parkour) sequence right at beginning was fantastic, and had us all on the egde of our seats, a fabulous show of agility that must have taken painstaking choereography. There so many points during the film where the tension became almost unbearable!

One interesting thing of note was quite how many times Bond got beaten up, I was surprised how many times he was more evenly matched to his assailant, and ended up with bloody cuts and a ruined outfit.

All this added to the film seeming to be breaking the 'Bond' mould and taking it in another direction. I think the time of daft gadgets is over and we have a Bond for the future, not always looking to the past films to adopt their formula. I say Daniel Craig is a refreshing change from the old Bond's, and he seems to have very much created his own interpretation of the charachter. I am looking forwards to the next one.