Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Dame Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffery Wright, Caterina Murino
Plot: When MI6 targets Le Chiffre – a personal banker for terrorists – and sends newly activated double-oh agent James Bond to bring him in. The plan is for Bond to defeat the terrorist at a high stakes poker game to trap him, but Bond finds that his new job carries a bigger price than he expected.
Review: If you so much at glanced at the previous entry in this series of reviews you may have detected a mild dislike for Die Another Day. By this stage of the franchise things were starting to get a bit…silly. Audiences were becoming tired with the predictable formula, the ideas were started to run a little thin and, in order to over-compensate, they’ve been pushing the boundaries of plausibility and realism. In the modern error of ethical gray areas in world issues and more complex characters in fiction Bond was becoming antiquated. When Pierce Brosnan left the role over the direction the movies were taking things were looking bleak.
Enter Martin Campbell, who’d already given the series a shot in the arm and a modern make-over with Goldeneye. For the first time in a long time some bold choices were made. The series breaks continuity by revisiting Bond’s early days as a Double-Oh agent whilst remaining the modern age. James Bond became a more rounded character who changes and develops over the course of the film. The violence is more realistic with genuine threats and high stakes. A new actor was cast, the heavily bulked up Daniel Craig who differs from the literary description. Although there was initially a backlash by some very vocal fans and critics many of those were silenced after they’d seen the film.
The opening scene features Bond confronting an MI6 contact who’s been selling secrets, intercut with him in a fight to the death with a lackey. The juxtaposition between the smooth dialog and the down and dirty, bloody knuckled brawl is perfectly handled and a seriously engaging beginning to the new Bond. The discussion about his first kills is enough to draw the viewers into the character. Meanwhile the fighting is brutal and startling, setting up new expectations. We jump from here to a chase scene through a construction site that stands out as one of the best action sequences in recent memory. The fluid parkour champion Sebastian Foulcan is a marvel to watch even through the rapid editing and provides a great rival for the bull-like Bond. Anyone who isn’t thrilled by this sequence needs to seek medical attention.
Strangely enough Dame Judi Dench returns as M, the only actor to do so, but it’s easy to see why. He rapport with Bond is nothing short of electric. More than just an exasperated boss she plays a key role in re-establishing Bond as a cocky new-comer still learning the price of his new role. The real star of the supporting roles is Eva Green as Vesper Lynd, the agent in charge of supplying Bond with his funding and his primary love interest through the film. More than one of the many disposable love interests Bond has had over the years she represents the thing that Bond stands to lose if he doesn’t tread carefully in the political arena. It’s a dynamic that hasn’t been explored in the series before, and it plays immensely well.
Casino Royale is a movie that is packed with awesome scenes. Bond breaking into M’s apartment has some of the funniest moments in the movie. The dialog and performances between Craig and Green during their first meeting on the train is a good example of building a great dynamic using simple visual elements. The poker game, though a tad overblown, is well handled and kept exciting. The torture scene is downright painful to watch, but there’s something brilliant about how Bond deflects Le Chiffre. Then there’s the quick stunt moments like the car being flipped end over end or Bond order his signature drink for the first time.
It would be easy to fill up pages and pages waxing lyrical about how great this movie is, but it’s all been said time and time again. It’s not completely perfect – the action sequence centred around the airport doesn’t quite match the ones we’d already seen, and the pacing is a bit wonky, but over all this is a brilliant film that sets a new bar for Bond and the action genre as a whole.
Score: TEN outta TEN
