Casino Royale
I’m just going to put this out there and you can either take it or leave it. Some of you I’m sure have seen one of Daniel Craig’s previous films, Layer Cake. About half way through it I said “Wow, that guy should totally be the next James Bond.” After it was over I called some friends and told them to see it, expressing the same sentiment. Not too long after that, lo and behold Pierce Brosnan gets the axe and my man is 007. There’s no real point in my telling you that other than to let you know I’m a friggin’ genius and that I was excited about seeing Casino Royale.
In this incarnation of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel we get to essentially see the master spy on his first day on the job. After botching his first mission as a “00” agent, Bond essentially goes rouge in order to track down and stop a terrorist cell. In doing so he makes a new enemy in Le Chiffre, the preeminent banker for terrorists around the world. When Bond causes him to loose all his clients’ funds, Le Chifre is forced to join a high stakes poker game to save his own life. With backing from MI6 agent Vesper Lynd 007 joins the table in order to stop Le Chiffre for good.
For my money, Daniel Craig has a very good chance to be one of the best Bonds, right after George Lazenby. I’m kidding of course, but he could definitely be up there with Connery, only time will tell. The next film where he actually gets to be a more classic depiction of the character will say for sure. Mads Mikkelsen is like a stretched out Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. As a weak yet evil genius, he has all the characteristics of a great Bond villain. Of course, you can’t get away without mentioning Eva Green as Vesper Lynd. She’s one of the few women in these films that is not only absolutely stunning to look at, but actually brings life to her character. It doesn’t hurt that she is actually given a character to play as opposed being a piece of set decoration.
You’re going to have to take this film with a bit of a grain of salt. It is a Bond film after all, so there are going to be some ridiculous stunts and over the top action sequences, but that’s part of the fun with these films, isn’t it? Having said that, there are definitely some things that bring this film down to Earth, Bond does get hurt and he, quite literally, has to wash blood off his hands. The film’s main detraction may be that it has one action sequence too many. At nearly two and a half hours things begin to drag towards the end.
Hardcore James Bond fans may have a problem with this film, since this isn’t about the man as they’ve come to know him. Generally, Bond has been slick and cool, but this is the story of how he became that way, so he’s arrogant and makes a lot of mistakes. Consequently, things don’t go as smoothly as they generally do and he quite frankly gets his ass handed to him on several occasions. By the end of this movie James Bond is a bit rough for wear, but he’s ready to become the icon of cool that he is.
The Grade
- Story: A
- Acting: A
- Visuals: B+
- Originality: A
- Enjoyability: B
- Overall: A
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