"The name is Bond. James Bond."

Daniel Craig as James Bond

Last night Wayne and I went to watch the most recent James Bond movie, Casino Royale.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the intense action and subtle love story, I was shocked and almost horrified at the level of violence in this movie. We saw it at Rainbow Cinemas, and while they rated it as 14A with a violence warning, that clearly wasn't enough. I witnessed a myriad of characters being killed in the following ways: by drowning, gunshot, nail gun, falling, beating, strangling, stabbing and bombing. Are there many more methods that can be used to kill someone? I think that covers most of them. Not to mention, James Bond was stripped naked and tortured at one point, and prior to that he was poisoned and nearly died of heart failure as a result. This 2 1/2 hour movie was jam-packed with a lot of death.
Now, having said all that, I'll let you in on a little secret: I buried my head in my hands when anything predictably violent was about to happen. But I still managed to come up with the list above, based on what I was hearing, or by evidence shown on-screen after-the-fact.
Okay, so it was violent. Not good. But the story, the non-violent action and the acting was memorable. Even the scenes that took place in the Casino were enamoring. Who knew watching a card game on the big screen could be so intense?
The bedroom scenes were minimal and tastefully done. I was surprised by that. The language was also acceptable. I was surprised by that, too.
This was Daniel Craig's first attempt at being James Bond. I think he did a great job. I found him to be more believable and likable than Pierce Bronson. And I don't think Pierce Bronson would have been physically capable to act in some of the scenes in this movie. Any time James Bond was running after someone or being chased, he started into this speed running mode which was actually quite interesting to watch. It's hard to explain unless you see it, so I won't even try. I'm not sure if it's just the way Daniel Craig runs, or if he was acting. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the running.
So, this is my first official movie review. I never thought I'd be discussing James Bond on my blog; but I enjoyed the new James Bond. Pierce Bronson was getting to old for my liking. Daniel Craig is younger and more appealing, in my opinion. I hope they sign him up for more in the future.
F.Y.I. Bronson was born in 1953; Craig was born in 1968. You do the math!