Casino Royale
Previous Bond films have represented a self-confident, even arrogant celebration of the materialism, technology and decadent sensuality of our culture. Secular democracies with their instruments of state were the world beaters who would save the world from the baddies and secure a bright future of fun and freedom for all. But with this fresh film the upbeat feel is decidedly muted if not missing. We now see ourselves differently.
John Benton
Spy glass
CASINO ROYALE Director Martin Campbell Cert. 12A
This film is interesting, not because it is particularly edifying (it isn’t), nor even because it marks the debut of actor Daniel Craig in the role of the celebrated fictional British spy James Bond. It is interesting because it holds up a mirror and reflects the change which Western civilisation is undergoing in its attitude to itself.
