Bond is back as Superman. (Casino Royale [2006] (DVD))

Member Name: shuttlex

Product:	Casino Royale [2006] (DVD)
Date:	18/11/06 (372 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Daniel Craig plays the role of Bond very well, John Cleese absent.

Disadvantages: Poor supporting actors, too many scenes shot in studio, Dench cast as M, unconvincing villain.

Lately, there has been more emphasis on bringing back the harder edged Bond as originally portrayed in the novels by Ian Fleming. Timothy Dalton was the first to state his desire to return Bond to its roots, which he successfully accomplished in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill. Since then Brosnan attempted to convey this side of Bond in Die Another Day, but with little success. With the new release of Casino Royale and the fresh face of Daniel Craig yet again the dark side of Bond returns.

Daniel Craig’s performance is impressive. Rather than parroting the usual phrases we have become so accustomed to such as “shaken, not stirred”, the script has been adapted to suit Daniel Craig with new and original lines. Overall Craig’s performance is impressive and undoubtedly he suits the role very well. However, unfortunately the support cast don’t quite match up.

Judy Dench still remains cast as M and as expected she fails to portray the command and respect required for someone of a high ranking position within MI6. Instead we see a woman more suited to disciplining school children rather than heading a secret intelligence organization.

Bond girl Eva Green plays Vesper Lynd, although her performance doesn’t seem suited to the role. She is portrayed as mentally weak and emotionally unstable. Just the sight of a dead body leads her to experiencing a mental breakdown.

Mads Mikkelsen plays arch enemy Le Chiffre, again his performance is simply mediocre especially in comparison to previous villains such as Zorin (A View to a Kill) and drug baron Sanchez (Licence to Kill). Le Chiffre comes across as dull and boring, a bad guy with little depth or personality, if any, simply there to fill the role. With Casino Royale being such a big budget film it is hard to believe they couldn’t do a better job developing the characters and casting the roles. Evidently, imagination is seriously lacking within the studios.

Although Q, known for arming Bond with his gadgets is not present, on a positive note John Cleese does not make an appearance in the film. With his quirky and unconvincing acting skills, Cleese has made a disruptive presence in the previous Bond films. This time Q branch is replaced by Japanese multinational corporation, Sony Electronics. Too much product placement is evident in this film, with the only Bond gadgets presented being Sony Vaio laptops, Sony Ericsson phones and the new Sony Blu-ray optical disc. It was surprising not to see a self destructing PlayStation 3 make an appearance.

Although Daniel Craig’s portrayal of Bond is impressive, unfortunately we are still subjected to watching the super human Rambo style activity which became common with Brosnan. In the opening scene of Casino Royale, surrounded by hundreds of bad guys fully armed with grenades and rocket launchers, Bond is still somehow able to kill a good proportion of them and escape with the required intelligence. This is where a huge flaw lies with the film, while it attempts to portray the original character traits from Ian Fleming’s Bond, we also witness a super hero rather than a secret agent. This is what one would expect to see in a Mission Impossible film, not a James Bond film. Undoubtedly the reason for this is to appeal to the large teenage audience and those with short attention spans.

While the scenery and locations are impressive, most still appears to be filmed indoors within Pinewood studio’s artificial film set rather than genuine locations. This is a shame and something that has become all too common since the release of Golden Eye.

Conclusion

With too many super hero style action scenes, poor supporting actors, indoor scenery with artificial lighting, no Bond gadgets and worst of all a villain who is dull, the film is lacking. On the other hand, Daniel Craig carries the role of James Bond surprisingly well, a welcome improvement to the substandard tongue tied performance delivered by Pierce Brosnan. However, Timothy Dalton still remains the best Bond of all time and Craig does very well in comparison.

Summary: A film that will appeal to teenagers and those with short attention spans.