It's Bond, James Bond at his best! (Casino Royale [2006] (DVD))

Member Name: MrTink12

Product:	Casino Royale [2006] (DVD)
Date:	22/11/06 (488 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Craig is excellent as Bond, feels fresh, more believable characters, great action sequences, support

Disadvantages: Possibly too long, excessive product placement

--(FILM REVIEW ONLY)--

James Bond is back for the 21st time, with the main question on everyone’s mind; is Casino Royale any good? This film was directed by Martin Campbell (GoldenEye (1995)). It was written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis, and is based on Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel. Casino Royale is a reinvention of the series, a great deal like Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005).

Much controversy has surrounded the casting of Daniel Craig as the sixth official James Bond. Comments included calling him short, ugly, having dodgy ears, being bland, and too blonde to play the most famous secret agent in the world. Some so-called fans went as far as to say they would boycott the movie with Craig in the lead role. What will follow is a review of the film having seen it on the big screen.


--------The Storyline--------
Casino Royale starts off with a stylish black and white sequence. We witness how Bond secured his double-0 status with his first two vicious killings. Thereafter the picture reverts to colour and Bond chasing a terrorist bomber named Mollaka (Sebastien Foucan) through a construction site and streets of Madagascar. After the chase Bond finds a text message that reads ‘Ellipsis’ on Mollaka’s phone. Things go wrong when the media report that Bond killed Mollaka whilst he was unarmed, causing an international incident.

Next we see Bond checking information relating to contacts of the bomber. The problem is, he is doing this having broken into the home of his boss. Arriving home, M (Dame Judi Dench), head of spy agency MI6, makes absolutely clear that she has regrets over his promotion.

Undeterred Bond decides to go alone travelling to the Bahamas following the leads he has. On his travels Bond manages to seduce Solange (Caterina Murino), wife of one of Le Chiffre’s associates, Alex Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian). It was Dimitrios who sent the text to Molloka, so Bond follows him to Miami. After having to kill Dimitrios it is left to Bond to prevent a brand new jumbo jet being blown up by another terrorist, Carlos (Claudio Santamaria). After an action packed scene at the airport, Bond is successful in preventing disaster. This causes international terrorist financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) to sustain massive losses (in excess of $100 million) because he bet the jet company would fail.

The story progresses to Bond’s mission to stop Le Chiffre in a high stakes no limit Texas holdem single table tournament in Montenegro. We see Le Chiffre has a couple of noticeable faults; (a) he has a tear duct that sometimes weeps blood; and (b) uses an inhaler. Having lost a client’s money on his disastrous bet Le Chiffre desperately needs the $100 million plus he would gain from winning the poker tournament to prevent some really bad guy creditors coming for him.

Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) is the main Bond girl, much smarter than we usually see. Working for Her Majesty’s Treasury, she has been employed to finance Bond’s $10 million buy-in to the poker tournament, and watch over him. The first scene between Vesper and Bond is delightfully implemented, with each character trying to read the other. It is interesting to see for once a female not instantly fall for Bond’s charm. Bond also finds help in Montenegro from local M16 field agent Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini).


--------My opinions--------
I went into the cinema with an open mind despite all the controversy the film attracted prior to release. What I saw turned out to be a truly great modern action flick. I do not wish to make too bold a statement like ‘this is the best Bond ever’, but in my opinion Casino Royale is far better than any of the films which Pierce Brosnan starred in.

Finally we have a Bond film that loses the excessive gadgets of past incarnations – Q is not featured. Instead the movie focuses on providing a gritty plot and quality acting. In Casino Royale we actually see different sides to the Bond character. For example this is a man who can make mistakes but learn from them. One scene I particularly enjoyed was the response that Bond gives to the bartender asking whether he would like his Martini shaken or stirred, ‘Do it look like I give a damn?’

The action sequences featured have been superbly filmed. For example the chase in Madagascar is great fun, especially the leaping from building to building and the way Bond utilises the construction site to his advantage.

Bond’s adversaries seem more realistic than ever before. It is a nice change that the main villain does not crave world domination. Moreover the fighting is marvellously shot; much is close range combat with Bond surprisingly bleeding in fights. Even the tactics of the main villain this time are far more disturbing than the past. Gentlemen, remember to cross your legs and squint your eyes, as later on in the film there is a rather gruesome torture scene. You will feel Bond’s pain!

There are plenty of neat twists and turns to keep viewers guessing over how the film will eventually conclude. In addition there are some enjoyable moments of humour throughout the film.

A review of a Bond film would be incomplete without mentioning the motors featured. The first car he drives is a Ford Mondeo, not exactly a motor you would associate with 007. Thankfully the motors improve and Bond later acquires an Aston Martin DB5. The best car he gets his hands on is the impressive new Aston Martin DBS. Apparently the motor achieved a Guinness World Record for the most cannon rolls in a car (7), whilst filming the crash stunt that features in the film.

Having not previously seen much of his work, I can report that Craig is a truly accomplished actor. Bond played by Craig is shown to be ruthless where he needs to be, but also has caring side. Forget all that talk of Craig being ugly, the ladies in the cinema seemed most definitely impressed (I could hear some appreciative noises) when he emerges from the sea wearing only skimpy trunks, reminiscent of Ursula Andress in Dr No (1962). It is no easy task to always be measured against widely regarded best-Bond Sean Connery, but Craig does a great job in his first outing as the man with a License to Kill.

Not only is Eva Green an absolute knockout to look at, she provides a good quality acting performance. Green and Craig work brilliantly together, ensuring viewers really grasp the growing chemistry between their respective characters. In my opinion Mikkelsen was rightly cast for the role of the more believable villain Le Chiffre because his acting here is top notch. A slight down point of the character is we are not provided with much back-story, but overall he did fell like a guy you would not want to mess with. Dench provides a better performance in her fifth Bond film, as the boss who will not accept any nonsense from 007. Nonetheless I was surprised to see her involved as this is supposed to be about reinventing the series, so a new actress as M would have made more sense. Jeffrey Wright has a small role as CIA’s weak poker player Felix Leiter that he performs very well, and there is a possibility that he may feature in future Bond films.


--------The criticisms--------
There were a couple of scenes which I did not feel were edited corrected. On the one hand certain parts of the film felt slightly too trimmed, whilst others suffered from dragging a tad. Overall perhaps the 144-minute run time was too long, but for the most part the film raced by without a problem.

The theme tune by Chris Cornell entitled ‘You Know My Name’ is another weak link in an otherwise spectacular piece of work.

A further criticism was how the poker game was a tad cliché. Big hand versus bigger hand scenarios are quite rare but were commonplace in Casino Royale. I know it’s a movie and such situations are good viewing but for such a huge stacks tournament some great play with a total bluff could have been equally fun. This is not major quibble mind you; because it is great to see how popular Texas holdem has become that it has been showcased in the biggest movie franchise in the world.

A quick point to make is that the film features so much blatant product placement. This is meant to be a movie, not a series of mini advertisements. Since the movie parts are so splendid I will not mark Casino Royale down too much for this, but do hope this will not become a trend for the franchise.


--------Final comments--------
In conclusion we can answer the question posed at the beginning of the review in the following way: ‘Casino Royale is not simply good, it is much more; it’s absolutely superb and a must see movie’. To use a poker analogy, Casino Royale is like flopping four of a kind – great to see and brings a smile to your face. Casino Royale proves that people should never judge an actor or movie prior to release. This is exactly what the franchise needed, and I hope that Bond 22, due in 2008, can be of similar quality. I am especially looking forward to the future DVD release. In the meantime, this comes highly recommended, and a film you should see in a cinema as soon as possible.


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Technical details:
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 144 minutes

Summary: Top quality action film that everyone should watch!