Casino Royale (2006)
Casino Royale is 144 minutes long. Most Bond films are about 120 minutes, with the longest, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, sitting at 136 minutes. Yes, I’m saying that there were TOO MANY poker scenes between Bond and the evil dude. I know poker is great and all — what with the world championship series, and ESPN covering it like a real sport … but comon, it’s a Bond film — more action, less poker with two men staring at each other!
Poker scenes aside, Casino Royale really could use a lot more editing. Those scenes of lounging about and Bond doing totally unnecessary things just to attract attention really didn’t need to be in the film. During some segments, I actually started falling asleep…
Still, I can see the good in the film — the plot isn’t bad although a bit convoluted and too twisted to be believable near the end. The characters were likable except for the Bond girl who I thought wasn’t very hot. The actions were a bit low-key without fancy stunts like those in Mission Impossible 3… Yes, I enjoyed MI3 more than Casino Royale. After watching MI3, I was breatheless with all the insane action Ethan Hunt had to get through, but with Royale, I just want it to STOP WITH THE TWISTS! Yeah. I dunno, I’m just babbling now. It’s an okay movie, and if there’s nothing better on, might as well right?