Casino Royale Review *No Spoilers*

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Dudes - Fleming's Bond in the novels was a stone cold killer. I thought Craig was an excellent choice for the role (based on "Road To Perdition" and "Layer Cake"), and I'm glad to see that they moved the character in that direction.


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Yes, he was. The stone cold killer comes across very well in Dr. No, when Bond sets up a guy to break into his hotel room, then after knocking the gun out of his hand basically sits and chats with him in order to lure him into making a hopeless grab for it when Bond knows it's empty. When the guy clicks on the empty chambers, Bond leisurely reaches over to a table, legs crossed, grabs his own gun, and brings it to bear on the terrified would-be killer. Bond says something on the order of "That's a Smith and Wesson K-frame. Your six are up," lets the hopelessness and terror sink in for a second and lets the guy agonize how he'd been set up by Bond all along, and then plugs a couple silenced rounds into him.

Bond really dragged it out unnecessarily just to toy contemptuously with the guy. Because, well, that's just the kind of guy he was. Great, great scene! The old Connery Bond was not always a very nice guy at all. When he said he was going to break a girl's arm -- kind of a shocking thing to consider in the movies in those days especially -- you got the feeling the really meant it. There's a spark of absolute determination in Connery's eyes a lot, and I wouldn't want to get in his way.