Top of the Otts in Film #2: Casino Royale

2. Casino Royale

At the end of the forgettable Quantum of Solace, I wished Casino Royale had not just relaunched Bond, but also ended it. And though we would have lost out on the sublime Skyfall, it would have been a great way to go out. There’s a beautiful moment in Casino Royale where, for one of the few times in the whole series, Bond is actually in love. He throws it all away to run off with Eva Green, the inexplicably charming accountant, for about 5 minutes of screen time, and while it’s happening, it’s quite touching really.

Yes, Casino is laden with a Brosnan-era song and villain. But it counters with Daniel Craig as the best Bond; not a cartoon, but a real, complex Type A asshole, one who is sometimes in real danger, one who is a callous womanizer and talented prima donna in a real way, rather than in way that is merely Archer source material. They’ve generated some great dialogue, perhaps the best Bond opening, and two classic Bond girls in one movie. And parkour.

Sailing Bond into the sunset, they could have ended the film, if not the series, with him following the Admiral Nelson route from duty to a lover’s seclusion, bringing him back to fight the Napoleon of espionage in a sequel. Having broken so many Bond rules in her majesty’s service of a better film, this would have been the ultimate hoodwink of the audience – the Tony Stark, “The truth is, I am Iron Man” moment that would have perfectly captured the new Bond. Let us wonder for years whether there will be a new Bond, ruin his bliss in some showy opening of the next film. Alas, a missed opportunity, and one that puts Casino at #2 instead of on top.