Casino Royale (2006)

Every once in a while you get to see a movie that felt like it was worth the admission. The last time I could say that was with "The Departed", "Inland Empire" (if it even counts). Generally, these movies tend to be around the 2 and a half hour mark, and the reaction afterward is mainly due to being overwhelmed by how long it was.

That's probably how I feel about "Casino Royale", although on second glance, it really is a well-made action/franchise movie, albeit one that doesn't really go too far, in a geographical sense. Sure, it begins in Uganda, jumps to Madagascar, and somewhere else, but when it's all over, you don't feel like it shifted between many different locations. The majority of the movie takes place in either a tropical resort, a poker room, or a construction-site chase sequence featuring a monkey-legged bandit that feels 10 minutes long, and is just as outrageous as you would expect. Overall, though, this makes for a less jarring, and more comfortable movie experience.

There's more to feel good about, especially the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Eva Green, who enters halfway through the movie as a confident accountant, and then swiftly, yet inexplicably, forgets her inhibitions and gives in to Bond the rest of the film. The things poker can do to women...

Speaking of poker, this movie has a lot of it. Early test screenings of the movie mentioned that the poker sequences were too long, and ruined the flow of the movie. That might be true, but to me, it made the movie a Bond movie about something more than just gadgets and one-liners, both of which this movie is mostly barren.

So you can call this a stripped-down Bond film--I wouldn't know by comparison, because I haven't really seen any of the others. I've stayed away from most action movies in the past. But with 2006 offering a solid number of enjoyable, decently made popcorn flicks that didn't make you feel like some braindead pre-teenager all over again, I'm starting to pay more attention.

Grade: A-