Christ, I miss the Cold War.

You know that part in the first Austin Powers film where Dr Evil famously demands one million dollars from the U.N. and everyone laughs at him? That’s kind of what I was thinking of when watching Casino Royale, the new James Bond film. Amidst the standard plot hoo-hah (terrorists, weapons, blah blah blah), there was a thing where one bad guy was ruthlessly trying to get back $150m which Bond had caused him to lose. One hundred and fifty million? That’s like, stealing Chelsea. Hardened international criminals? You’re having a laugh.

Anyway, that aside, it was a very decent film. I know that being the best James Bond film ever is up there in terms of credibility as being “the best Nickelback album” or “the least unhealthy McDonalds item”, but even so, it was enjoyable enough. Daniel Craig did well as Bond, not too many appalling one-liners, and a nice high badass rating (at one point he performs auto-defibrillation). Double crossing, a nice car, a neat chase, some torture, hi-jinx on the runway at Miami International… and a really hot Bond Girl… so what if the story didn’t really make much sense, the theme song was one of the worst ever and there was hardly any nudity?

Not as great as the RT indicator would suggest, but worth watching at a dollar theater or on a plane, easily. Sorry, these guys, but it was good.