Casino Royale

One of the earliest movies I had watched was a James Bond movie. It was "The Man with the Golden Gun", when it was screened at the old Lido. (as in, before it closed for renovation). That was also one of the last times my mother brought me to a cinema, so I think I must have given her a lot of shit.

I had heard good things about Casino Royale. It's the first James Bond film since Golden Eye which does not have a stupid title. (Tomorrow Never Dies? The World is Not Enough? Die Another Day?) And Daniel Craig was a very different James Bond, from the Pierce Brosnan type who could do a ridiculous number of stunts without a hair out of place. Some people have called him the best James Bond since Sean Connery.

It's true, I think, although I have probably seen fewer than 5 Bond films. It's a film which reaches deep into the psyche of James Bond, what the man is about, what it's like to have a licence to kill, about his treatment of women. This is one of the most athletic Bonds of all time: check out the open sequence in an African construction site.

It is the trend in recent years to allow the Bond girls a fair share of the spotlight. How to balance their sexual appeal while allowing them to have some character.

James Bond emerges out of the water in one scene here, in a snide reference to Ursula Andress' famous sequence walking out of the water. This time instead of a luscious pair of tits, we get a sexy male torso, recasting James Bond as a physical sex symbol, very much the equal of the Bond girls.

He is also unsuccessful at love: in an earlier Bond film, he was married, but I think his wife died. Similarly, he nabs a chick, but only to use her for information. Later on, she is captured and tortured to death. He also finds love, or so he thinks, before his lover betrays him. It's easy to be cynical like that. Similarly he sticks his neck out to nab a terrorist, but after that gets chewed up by his boss, M, even as he slyly threatens to reveal M's full name for the benefit of the movie audience.

Why did I like this James Bond movie better than a lot of other James Bond movies? Probably because this is the first James Bond novel, the one where you can see his character being shaped. It's incredible that the James Bond guys have kept this novel in their back pocket for more than 40 years before pulling it out.

His problems with long term relationships - well he's got such a big problem with long term relationships that I'm sure some people are sniggering when I mention James Bond and "long term relationship" in the same breath. On "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" he briefly got married but something really bad happened - can't remember what. And the guy playing James Bond was apparently so bad he got retired after 1 movie. (At least Timothy Dalton got 2.)

I'd say that the relationship between Daniel Craig and Eva Green is at the heart of the movie. I think they really loved each other: I think we get a glimpse of the more sensitive vulnerable side of James Bond, who had to comfort Eva Green after she witnessed him killing a few guys. But even though the last action sequence was feeling like 1 too many it was necessary, because we had to see how she betrayed him. Well sort of betrayed him.

Daniel Craig might be one of the least handsome James Bonds, but he's also the most macho of the lot. And he plays the walking mess of contradictions well: powerfully built, but a touch of emotional insecurity. Suave enough, but not that suave that people forget that he's more or less a professional assassin. Craves women but loathes them in equal measure.

This is a more fascinating James Bond - not the one who survives multi-storey leaps, crazy car chases, close combat with bigger and stronger people, all with his tuxedo intact, but rather a battle hardened survivor who lives through every threat on his life by the skin of his teeth. We see scratches, wounds, even an incident with the defibrillator. (Curiously enough, "MI3" also featured a defibrillator.)

This is one of the great Bond films, and it's a great thing for that franchise that 40 years on you still can produce quality product like this. But the thing is, you've already pulled out all the stops on this one: great psychological drama, great action sequences, a great romance. How on earth are they going to top this one for the next film?