This ‘Royale’ comes without cheese
By Joe Pudas | Nov. 19, 2006It may have been the scene in 2002's ""Die Another Day"" when James Bond tried to outrun beams of solar energy, or perhaps when he eluded capture with his invisible car, that it became impossible to ignore how the venerable series was starting to rot. Few agree on the Pierce Brosnan-era of Bond flicks—some say he's the best since the Bond we measure all Bonds by, Sean Connery, while others claim he doesn't even stack up to Timothy Dalton—but they got us revved up about the franchise again. It's not that the Brosnan movies weren't fun, but after ""Goldeneye"" got our attention, they got sloppy fast, with ""Die Another Day"" approaching a level of camp unmatched since ""Moonraker."" When Bond becomes a full-blown cartoon, it's time to go back to the well, and the latest 007 adventure, ""Casino Royale,"" is a very promising step in a different, but gratifying, direction.
