Whew, that's a hot take, brev.

Not only do I think Casino Royale is easily the best Craig Bond, I think it's one of the best Bond films of all-time.
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I tried re-watching it recently and still don't care for it.
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Bond dying is quintessential of the franchise?
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I can actually see that. I originally watched it when it was first released (I was a teen) and hated it. I just remember thinking it was so fucking boring. Dude spent half the movie playing cards!

Few years later I had learned how to play poker and randomly came across that initial chase scene from the beginning on YouTube and I'm like "What the fuck? This is awesome and I don't remember any of it".

So I re-watched it and for whatever reason it just really hit for me then.

Now, I will admit that I really enjoyed Quantom of Solace, which is pretty much universally panned so maybe I'm not the best judge of Bond film quality lol I also re-watched most of the Brosnan Bonds recently and enjoyed the hell out of those too.

Yeah, I mean most of the stuff up to that. That happened in the last couple minutes of the movie.

It had Bond being suave, hot Bond girls, Bond plot armor, one-liner humor, cool cars, awesome gadgets from Q, a comical villain, said villain on an island lair, showdown on said villainous island lair.

Major differences in this one were Bond dying, obv, and the relationship dynamic. Going the family man direction wasn't really conducive to him bagging a lot of young broads. So in that regard, yeah, I could see how you'd say it wasn't; but it had everything else you'd typically see in a Bond flick.
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Great ending but my worry is his replacement as 007. Want an AWESOME Bond that has several different stories than an elongated story across several movies like Craig was. Get a great NEW Bond and have several stories ala Rodger Moore and Sean Connery.
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Finally watched this. I thought it was very good. I understand the ending, pretty sad. Part of me is sad about the ending because of my fear that they'll keep that robotic black chick as 007. That would be a nightmare. But I'm sure they'll go with a minority of some kind since Bond has become such a woke franchise.

With Mennonite's reviews I really don't understand why he is even watching these movies. He seems to hate them all.
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Sometimes the ones who hate a franchise the most are its biggest fans.

For many years in the late 2000s, there wasn't a single person who hated the Kansas City Chiefs more than me lol
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https://movieweb.com/bill-maher-blas...iel-craig/amp/

Can't believe a timeline exists where I agree with Maher on a topic.
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Loved this movie...ending bummed me out but seemed fitting.
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Are the dude bros mad that bond isn't banging chicks left in right in his last few movies? These movies were all entertaining...now I'm curious who will be the next bond.
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There's a wonderful true story about Roger Moore meeting a young fan in Nice airport in 1983.

Mark Haynes was seven years old when he recognized Moore as James Bond while travelling with his grandfather and asked if it was okay to get an autograph.

"As charming as you'd expect, Roger asks my name and duly signs the back of my plane ticket, a fulsome note full of best wishes," remembers Mark. "I'm ecstatic, but as we head back to our seats, I glance down at the signature. It's hard to decipher it but it definitely doesn't say 'James Bond'. My grandad looks at it, half figures out it says 'Roger Moore' - I have absolutely no idea who that is, and my hearts sinks.

"I tell my grandad he's signed it wrong, that he's put someone else's name - so my grandad heads back to Roger Moore, holding the ticket which he's only just signed.

"I remember staying by our seats and my grandad saying: 'he says you've signed the wrong name. He says your name is James Bond.' Roger Moore's face crinkled up with realisation and he beckoned me over. When I was by his knee, he leant over, looked from side to side, raised an eyebrow and in a hushed voice said to me, 'I have to sign my name as 'Roger Moore' because otherwise...Blofeld might find out I was here.'

"He asked me not to tell anyone that I'd just seen James Bond, and he thanked me for keeping his secret. I went back to our seats, my nerves absolutely jangling with delight. My grandad asked me if he'd signed 'James Bond.' No, I said. I'd got it wrong. I was working with James Bond now."
The story doesn't end there. It gets even better.

Years later, as a scriptwriter, Mark had the opportunity to work with Moore again. "I was working as a scriptwriter on a recording that involved UNICEF, and Roger Moore was doing a piece to camera as an ambassador. He was completely lovely and while the cameramen were setting up, I told him in passing the story of when I met him in Nice Airport. He was happy to hear it, and he had a chuckle and said: 'Well, I don't remember but I'm glad you got to meet James Bond.' So that was lovely.

"And then he did something so brilliant. After the filming, he walked past me in the corridor, heading out to his car - but as he got level, he paused, looked both ways, raised an eyebrow and in a hushed voice said, 'Of course I remember our meeting in Nice. But I didn't say anything in there, because those cameramen - any one of them could be working for Blofeld.'

"I was as delighted at 30 as I had been at 7. What a man. What a tremendous man."
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That's pretty cool.

I've went back and watched all of Craig's Bond films and they all still hold up. Maybe I'm just nostalgic, but I enjoy them all.
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