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Let me begin by saying I was one of the few who welcomed a new actor for the James Bond role. I highly anticipated this movie, and was left incredibly disappointed.

The new “darker” Bond was laughable. His badboy charm didn’t work with me, nor did his pouty lips, or large ears. They were throwing a closeup image of him whenever possible, but he clearly is no Bond we have come to know and love.

The most disappoing aspect of the film, was the lack of action and gadgets. Isn’t that why we watch Bond films to begin with? We saw a nice Aston Martin that never got into a chase, and as for gadgets… well.. there was nothing. No gadgets in a James Bond movie? Doesn’t that sound strange?

The high-stakes poker game took a good portion of the film, and it was boring. The movie started out promising enough, but the foot chase got a little out of hand after a few minutes, and certainly after 15 minutes.

The production team decided to really make this a darker entry into the Bond era, by showing us an unusual torture scene. Bond is strapped into a seatless chair, and hit in the testicles with a knot at the end of a rope. I’m not sure why they kept throwing the new Bond’s body at us whenever they could. Its almost as if they were trying to cover up the fact Daniel Craig cannot act, and is rather funny looking.

Casino Royale is the worst Bond movie I have seen since Licence to Kill. Daniel Craig is less interesting than Timothy Dalton. He has a long way to go, to bring the charm and adventure that Pierce Brosnan did to the James Bond character.

I’m not sure why this movie was so highly rated. No stunts, no action, no gadgets and the beautiful women were few and far between. 2 out of 5 stars seems more than fair.