Greg Haugen reviews the Casino Royale theatrical trailer

In a b/w sequence James Bond earns his second kill by shooting a man and answering the question the poor chap was about to ask. It is a clear and immediate signal that this is a different Bond film. It is also a clear and immediate signal that Daniel Craig has trouble with the word 'considerably'. Hold tight Bond fans. Our dug in positions have new evidence to process. Is mine about to change? In a word: not on your nelly. Ok. That was four words.

The trailer moves onto Judi Dench. Or to give her full title: Dame Plot Exposition. We see Le Chiffre looking a bit sneery and wearing a black suit in the jungle ("I'm just popping out to the jungle...have you seen my black suit anywhere? You wouldn't happen to know where my mittens are too would you?"). In a brightly lit casino, we see a diminutive Daniel Craig. Eva Green appears with the strangest accent ever commited to celluoid. She says she is there to look after Craig's 'perfect arse'. Yes.

The doom-laden romanticism that Eon have been hyping up for months is introduced. Bond has no armour left. Whatever is left is Vesper's. It is, to be frank, nothing special and Craig's dreary voiceover has the alarm bells of this fan ringing like two-hundred car alarms in the dead of night.

Craig himself looks moderate to awful in this trailer. Eon have chosen a distinctly odd actor to carry the image of Bond. The trailer plays out with the crane fight nonsense and an Aston Martin crash. I quite like this stuff. I like the locales. I like Eva, even with the accent. I only have one problem with this film: Craig. Daniel Craig.

I find it hard to accept that someone who looks as mature as Craig is at the start of his career and vulnerable. It worked to a degree for Lazenby. Craig is another matter. I don't think Bond has to look ike a cat-walk model, but Craig is perhaps a step too far in the other direction. Is he that good an actor to make these visual grumbles disappear with the force of his performance? Unless I've missed something, no. Not really. Casino Royale looks to be a decent film that has the shadow of a divisive piece of casting consistently dogging its tail.

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