REEL CRITICS:’Casino Royale’ raises stakes on Bond series

“Casino Royale” wastes no time letting you know that this movie is not your parents’ version of James Bond. The first 15 minutes propels you into a hard-hitting thriller with all the tension and gritty violence you would expect from a serious crime drama like “Goodfellas” or “Collateral.”

Director Martin Campbell throws out the cartoon villains and silly pretense that made so many former Bond films a parody of the genre. He has instilled a cutting edge of danger and excitement that demands us to take the story very seriously.

Updated to reflect the harsh realities of today’s international politics, this film pushes the envelope of its PG-13 rating with scenes of torture and murder that would never have been seen in previous Bond epics. Reminiscent of Matt Damon in “The Bourne Identity,” Daniel Craig is outstanding as the young Agent 007 who invigorates a fading movie franchise sorely in need of rejuvenation. Not since Sean Connery has anyone brought such bravura to the role.

Eva Green plays the stunning femme fatale who is thrown into the middle of the deadly operation that centers on an upscale poker game with millions of dollars at stake.

Old time fans of the Bond movies will not be disappointed in the special effects. The producers spared no expense to take the many spectacular stunts to a whole new level of intensity that will have you squirming in your seat. It’s a little too long at almost 2 1/2 hours, but it’s still astonishing and impressive. It may be the best Bond movie ever made and the best action film of this year.

Think twice before next drive-thru visit

If it’s true that we are what we eat, what does “Fast Food Nation” say about us? Do we really want to know?

Eric Schlosser’s 2001 book gave us an engrossing (and gross-out) look at the industry behind the cheap and easy meal. Condensed for those who haven’t read it, this dramatized version (co-written with director Richard Linklater) will give you food for thought before you head out for the nearest drive-thru.

“Fast Food Nation” reveals how a big-name burger is marketed, that the flavors and scents are chemically engineered, how the meat is produced and who processes it. Linklater also provides a visual whopper of an ending that is not for the squeamish.

Greg Kinnear is Don Anderson, a successful Mickey’s marketing executive sent to Cody, Colo., to check out stories about some contaminated hamburger meat. He visits the local Mickey’s and is pleased to see that counter worker Amber (Ashley Johnson) displays all the virtues of the chain’s customer service, while one of the cooks adds some of his own secret sauce to the order.

Don tours the meat-packing plant and is impressed with its sparkling, immaculate white walls. But they didn’t show him the “kill room,” which would have probably turned him into a vegetarian.

He gets an earful of stories from locals about gruesome accidents and commonplace accidental contamination. Don is disheartened to know that his products are not as wholesome as he thought.

Linklater got a lot of good actors for his film, and there are a lot of sly moments, such as Bruce Willis saying, “Everything’s fine — just cook the meat.”

In another scene, well-meaning student activists decide to cut a fence and free the cattle — but the animals refuse to budge.

The emotional core revolves around Catalina Sandino Moreno and Wilmer Valderrama as a young Mexican couple. Recruited from across the border to work in one of the slaughterhouses, their dreams of a nice quiet life turn into a sorry tale of humiliation and pain.