Connery being my only Bond until now, and now I'm confused at how the continuity works out. I was really hoping for a 60s Bond going into the movie, and the cell phone in the first scene totally phased me. The stuff that really bugs me are the huge holes this movie blows in the Bond continuity. the beginning sequence felt very much tacked on, and the last thrid of the movie did seem to have an LotR-esque seven-endings feel, but the open ending was incredible in the end, and really got me going for a sequel. and I think Craig did a pretty good job, better towards the end. I really liked the ending as well, when we finally get 'the line' and the much more suave Bond. I left that theater with a mile-wide smile. Until the final scene, when he really WAS the Bond that we all know and love, and bam! In comes the theme song. None of it was Bond music, not the guitar, not the trumpets, nada. One of the nifty things about this film is that throughout it, I was wondering about the music. I'll take Casino Royale over crap like The Marine.and go back for seconds. I often find I enjoy them because I love action films and typically a good Bond film will always be worthwhile. Most action films lack a character as strong as Bond and most lack the style of many of the best films of the 007 series. But as an action junkie myself, that's a big deal for some of us. They aren't great film and even the best of them is just a good action film. Granted, the Bond films are largely action films of their time.

If Casino Royale is really a change from that, that's a good thing, because it means it might not suck.

If it wasn't for the nostalgia and legacy appreciation of the Bond films, they would be viewed for what they really are: campy, often times downright dumb and almost inevtiably always mediocre. All this talk about it 'not being a Bond movie' or 'Craig is a bad Bond.' I can't help but remember the fact that nearly all Bond movies are fundamentally crappy films. I have yet to see the movie (probably will this week), but I gotta say you guys crack me up.

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