"Casino Royale" suffers from the same problem as the "Bourne" books, namely that there is no longer a Soviet Union and a Cold war, so changes had to be made. Not to mention to the "blonde-haired" Felix Leighter of the book! Modernisation and PC aside, it actually remains remarkably faithful to the book, even including the book's last line (which I won't repeat as it's somewhat of a spoiler). The torture scene is right out of the book (except they used a carpet beater there (ouch!!)).
However, what I couldn't help wondering was, is this the end of the road for Bond? The old Moore/Brosnan films have an agent who was the model of suave urbanity, full of pithy one-liners (which you won't find in any of the books), and the whole thing was played with tongue firmly in cheek. There was never the nerve-wracking tension of "24", because you know your man would escape unscathed and get the girl too.
Now that that's gone, is the name "Bond" alone sufficient to distinguish them from all the other high-energy thrillers that are constantly produced? I think they're going to do more for the franchise to survive.
