Casino Royale

I haven't seen this one in a while, so the film was competing with my memory of it. And my memory was generous. It's a solid film, and easily my favorite Bond film when it was released. I recalled it as a gritty, grounded answer to both Bourne and 9/11 - putting Bond into a grownup world. A world with consequences.

On rewatch, it's a bit of a mess. The opening is a flashback which itself contains a flashback. Each layer of the past told with increased grain and fuzziness - cute visual metaphor. The pacing of the film is a bit unorthodox, with half starts and half endings.

The plot itself is even straight forward - a man creates a banks for warlords and terrorists, but to ensure returns he shorts stocks and then forces loses through terrorist acts? That sort of makes sense, but dealing with the unbankable doesn't need to ensure returns, it just needs to ensure access. Honestly, for as amazing as he is at poker, Le Chiffre could benefit from a few Anti-Money Laundering courses.

And the gritty seriousness (the bit that I remember most) comes and goes in waves. Bond loses practically every fight he's in, despite the being the most fit Bond to date. That's balanced out by banter and wit and charm and a too fast love story that at best shows a man who can compartmentalize and at worse, shows as inconsistent characterization.

It's a fun film, but not one that could compete with my memory of it. Most of that is probably on me.