Casino Royale

Bond is back with this 21st entry in the Bond franchise. This old franchise is given a shot in the arm that is has sorely needed for many years by going back to basics with this prequel starring new Bond hottie Daniel Craig. The action moves from Africa to the Bahamas to Montenegro to Venice in the way that only Bond can circle the globe to exotic locales and make it all look lavish and dangerous. Casino Royale is easily the best Bond film in a decade and possibly the best Bond film in nearly 30 years if you didn’t like GoldenEye.

Much has been made of Craig taking up the mantle held by the likes of Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan. But the argument about whether Bond should go blond should be silenced with this impressive performance. Perhaps Craig is not the most handsome man to ever play Bond and he gives the character a decidedly more rugged edge but he is a great fit for the part. More importantly the script has been tailored for Craig’s edgy gritty Bond in a way that poor Timothy Dalton, working on material written for Brosnan, could only dream. Director Martin Campbell, who previously made the Bond film GoldenEye, makes the most of the most chiseled Bond by regularly having him take his bloodied shirt off, walking out of the ocean, or sitting naked being tortured. Rarely has torture looked this good.

Craig’s Bond is the thug of the original books. He is Her Majesty’s ‘blunt instrument’ as M calls him but Craig adds somewhat more intelligence to the character even when this new 00 is bungling through a job. Craig isn’t the wittiest Bond, Connery and Brosnan were better at the witty banter, but he has the cock-sure posturing down. Craig plays Bond with a significant chip on his shoulder to explain Bond’s cavalier attitude towards life. Bond in his new role as a 00 is at times grave, vulnerable, and reckless and he even makes a number of egregious mistakes. The story makes ample use of the vulnerability aspect while promising that this will be the last we see of it as an audience. The one thing this Bond still needs to work on is the fun, Craig’s Bond doesn’t seem to enjoy his job much, in fact he is ready to throw it away at a moments notice, so he is still working up to the Bond we know and love from the earlier films.

The other thing this Bond has scaled back from is the enormity of destruction. The Brosnan Bond films had become almost comical in the level of destruction that one spy could attain while still attempting to be a spy. In Casino Royale Bond is back to basics outrunning and outwitting his opponents without blowing up the city, well maybe a little bit of Venice, but not too much. Bond’s kills are equally scaled down and gritty. Here he runs like a jackrabbit and punches like a prize fighter and ends up rolling around on the floor in his tux fighting for his life. Plus this time we get to see Bond trying to clean up the blood to get back to the gambling charade in his spotless tux. It is the dirty little underbelly of the suave spy’s world that we don’t always get a view into.

This younger and more naive Bond meets his match in Bond girl Vesper Lynd played beautifully by Eva Green who morphs from starchy accountant to Bond arm candy with ease. She brings out the soft underbelly of the secret agent which makes it easier for the rough international spy business to kick him around. Lynd has a special place in Bond mythology and Casino Royale’s treatment of her does it justice. It also explains why Bond would become the lonely womanizer that he is. Caterina Murino gets a beautiful but brief role as another of Bond’s near conquests. And Ivana Milicevic gets a glamorous but surprisingly mute role as Le Chiffre’s mol to round out the elegant Bond ladies.

There is no Q here to give Bond his toys, just an anonymous envelope and a well placed car. It seems a bit more realistic than a man with a bunch of super gadget popping up in various locales. The one quixotic bit of work is that Judy Dench is back as M Bond’s superior in the British service. While it would be a travesty to let such talent slip away it gives a strange continuity to a film that is not otherwise maintaining continuity with the previous films in the series. Once again Dench gently treads the fine line between disliking 007’s brutish ways and abrasive demeanor, admiring his skills, and worrying about the wellbeing of her exceptional resource.

Casino Royale opens with Bonds first two kills which set up his 007 status. The Bond song by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden fame is not particularly memorable but at least it is better than that hideous techno mess of Madonna’s that led the last Bond film. The film then finds its groove in Africa with one of the most impressive foot chase scenes I have ever seen with the characters jumping around a construction site as if they have springs on their feet. It all ends badly but the chase gives Bond the next piece in the puzzle. The chain of events eventually leads to Le Chiffre, Mads Mikkelsen, international banker to terrorists and a high stakes poker game in Montenegro. Le Chiffre is a serviceable villain, he doesn’t seem to have any particular bizarre superpowers but he also doesn’t have any particularly memorable traits, flip lines, or cool henchmen.

The film paces strangely especially for those used to the non stop testosterone fests of the last few Bond films. Casino Royale builds action then significant down time then back to more action throughout the film. At the casino in Montenegro Bond shines in his sleek best and the film takes its time soaking in the manners, the beautiful ladies, and Craig in his tailored tux. The tension and the travails of this one poker game are well constructed. There is an especially long pause just before the climax that may leave many viewers squirming in their seats but it serves to highlight the life of the super spy and the way his life routinely evolves, near death one moment, playing high stakes poker with the enemy who poisoned him the next.

Bond is back in a big way. With a new Bond and a sure hand at the helm Casino Royale is a fresh cut to an old and venerable franchise. Bond is rougher, tougher, and sexier than ever whether in a tuxedo or swim trunks. He beats down bad guys, drives fast cars, and seduces beautiful women in the most exotic locales on earth and he makes it all look glamorous. Plus Casino Royale has the added bonus of a plot that is almost followable, a nice tight script, and focused directing.

Related posts:

1. Best Bond Films