He also doesn't play Bond like a 1970's ambassador abroad.
The dialogue crackles with insight and judgment on a character we actually know very little about. It is not a lady's mid-drift or a Moore-ism that gets laid bare in a shower scene in this film - but a character trait underscored by the simple gesture of giving someone more hot water. Replacing the traditional destruction of the villain's lair with the main character's emotional destruction is astute, intelligent and bloody cool. The film has a pre-title sequence, a build up and a climax granted - but not necessarily in that order (the film ends on a prologue to the next film). It also re-structures what any adventure film can get away with these days (as it should - Bond wrote the book on mainstream cinema and shouldn't be left behind by its imitators). Structurally alone, this film re-writes the book on Bond. The franchise of old is still present, but the formula is not. Watching a Brosnan Bond now seems like watching a tired England match you've seen before.ĬASINO ROYALE is hard to compare to the previous 20 films as it doesn't want to be. To even think of Pierce Brosnan - let alone watch his latter entries in the series - seems embarrassing and pointless. 'The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning.'
