Casino Royale DVD

Stars: Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Munich)

Directed by: Martin Campbell (GoldenEye), Eva Green (Kingdom of Heaven), Judy Dench (Die Another Day)

What's it about? A new Bond is in town and he's having a rough start to his spy career. His mission is to capture a guy named Le Chiffre who is a banker to the world's top terrorists. If Bond catches him he'll have intelligence and access to the baddies of the world. Problem is the usual for Bond: there are women in the way.

Why you should watch it: Casino Royale is a definitely different spin on the Bond series. This guy's blonde, is more violent and actually has some vulnerability to him. Casino Royale does explain the origins of Bond's upbringing and why he treats women like disposable razors as he focuses on his, um, career goals. Nifty stunts in this one, especially the opening foot chase. That bad guy looked like one of them machines in I, Robot. Casino Royale offers up a lot of tension-building situations that can keep you on the edge. The torture scene can make men cry. Seriously. I don't see how any man can watch it without wincing.

What sucks about this movie: This ain't your daddy's Bond. Like I said, Casino Royale's Bond is more vulnerable and susceptible to making mistakes. He's even more arrogant than the traditional Bond; almost a little too arrogant, and that says a lot. I also didn't find the Bond girls particularly charming or believable. They weren't any worse than Denise Richards but still nothing to cheer about. Without giving away any spoilers, you woulda thunk they would have had a better actress to play the love interest; someone more memorable because of how the movie ends. Oh, well.

DVD features: My copy didn't come with many features. It was from Netflix, so I basically got the disc with the Casino Royale movie and that's about it.

Nice Surprise: The stunts. Bond movies are known for ingenious stunts, but that opening chase is something I could watch a few times over.

Overall: Decent movie. I'm looking forward to the next one which will truly test the Bond-ness of the films. Daniel Craig is a good actor and fit perfectly into this role; I just hope he gets better Bond girls and the next movie doesn't have so much to do with a poker game. Where's my Dr. Evil? Good for an action-thriller night.