Casino Royale teaser trailer: a review

So we’ve all seen the Casino Royale trailer by now, so maybe it’s time to sum up what we’ve been given so far.

Unfortunately what we’ve got doesn’t look promising. For a start the trailer doesn’t show even a hint of the book, let alone being the faithful adaptation, albeit fleshed out, that Martin Campbell had promised us.

And what has happened to James Bond? Although we’ve been optimistic in the past there is no hint of Bond – he’s always been a gentleman, whether agent or not. But now they’ve turned him into a character straight from an Andy McNab book – “a thug” as M comments. What happened to his Eton education?

There was no doubt that the franchise needed to move away from the excesses of Die Another Day. But it would appear that all the talk of characterization and back to basics was nothing but lip service – the film looks much closer to Die Another Day in the short excerpts we’ve seen than any other Bond movie.

So why get rid of Brosnan? And why tell us it will be character driven when the evidence is that it’s business as usual. Although the reboot could have worked well it is plainly unnecessarily to learn where Bond first got his Aston Martin (Q gave it to him, remember?). And while the James Bond films have always stretched credibility in terms of continuity, I don’t really want to have a 21st century rookie Bond – Sean Connery was the experienced Bond back in the ’60s. Remember that too?

So what should they showed us in this trailer?

Well, what about something to tell us this IS Casino Royale. And something to tell us that Daniel Craig IS James Bond. And we get none of that.

I fear for November 17th.

David Leigh founded The James Bond Dossier in 2002. A fan of 007 since the age of 8, he is also author of The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond. You can order a copy here if you don't own it already.

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