It’s been talked about a lot in the press and received a lot of criticism from die hard James Bond fans, but on Friday night I finally got my chance to view and in turn give my opinion on the latest James Bond film, Casino Royale.

At the start I was pleased. It had the characteristic beginnings of a bond film; an opening scene, colourful and well designed credits with animations and then a straight up start to the main feature. As the film went on I realised that despite my reservations about the slightly updated format and the new actor, Daniel Craig, in the staring role I was really enjoying it. Those mad crazy and yet still amusing moments remained and as ever the gadgets and high-tech stuff made many of the scenes that little bit cooler if I may be permitted to use such a word.

One slight disappointment was the notable absence of any character pertaining to be Q. A bond film just isn’t quite right without someone to dole out all the gadgets and such, not to mention the quips that always went along with the process. Without dwelling on this though there were some good character inclusions, the one most notable of which being Felix. A film isn’t the same without James’ CIA friend and it was great to see him in the movie playing the assisting role so well.

There was one point not too far from the end when I thought it was all going a little too close to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. He was getting rather close to the girl and for a bond film thats just not right. Luckily though (at least for Bond tradition, although it was a sad moment) she didn’t make it to the end of the movie, making way for Bond’s endless string of brief encounters with various women in future films which is always important.

The plot line was different enough to fit the slightly changed format but retained enough of the old style James Bond I have come to love to make me happy. While I don’t think Daniel Craig was the best choice for James Bond by a long chalk I think he carried off the role surprisingly well. It’s a difficult thing to do being Bond, and I think considering how favored the great Bond actors are amongst fans of the film I think Daniel made a valiant effort.

All in all Casino Royale exceeded my expectations and as such I’d recommend you see it. I don’t think anyone would be disappointed.