November 18th, 2006 by Brent
Casino Royale is based on the first James Bond adventure by Ian Fleming. The book, which the movie follows very well, introduces us to the character and gives us some of his background. The filmmakers used this as an opportunity to reboot the franchise, start fresh, and to hopefully avoid the trend of crappy Bond movies that have poured out since Goldeneye. Like Batman Begins, this movie wipes the slate clean and puts the focus on Bond, instead of gadgets, over the top villians, and ludicrous evil schemes. So what kind of Bond movie do you get when you take away those things? In my opinion, you get the best Bond of all time.
At the start of the film, we witness Bond become a 00 agent in a black and white noir scene where he must assassinate two individuals. The two assassinations are very different, one very stylish, very smooth, like the Bond we have all grown up watching. The other is different though, it's brutal and rough as Bond struggles to complete his mission. This is our first taste of what's to come, a Bond that struggles to get the mission done, a Bond that is still learning.
For this new Bond, director Martin Campbell(Goldeneye) decided to cast Daniel Craig. Craig took a lot of crap after being cast. Many fans, myself included, thought that he just didn't look the part and some were upset over trivial issues like his light brown hair. However, after seeing the opening scene I mentioned above, you see why they picked him. He's got all the characteristics that make you believe this guy is a 00 agent, he's tough and physically intimidating, yet he also has the charm and intelligence that we've become accustom too in the other films.
The actions scenes in the movie are top notch, particularly the construction yard chase which will capture you early in the film and the fights seem more real and less of a dance. But surprisingly, some of the best scenes revolve around the poker game between Bond and the main bad guy, Le Chiffre. The scenes are a bit slow, especially after the outstanding action scenes, but I really enjoyed them.
The only problem I had with the movie is that it slows a bit at the end of the film, but it rewards us with a great ending and gives some emotional weight to Bond as well.
Casino Royale is a great restart of the franchise and is one of the, if not the best Bond film of all time. James Bond will return, and this time, I am really looking forward to it.
| Quick Review | |
|---|---|
| Plot/Storyline A more realistic Bond story makes for a better story. It drags a bit at the end, but it's worth it. |
9 |
| Acting/Characters Daniel Craig gives us a Bond that we care about. The rest of the cast is great as well. |
9.5 |
| Visuals/Sound There are a lot of great shots, from the opening noir scene, to the handling of the poker game. Oh, and fight scenes where you can actually see what is going on. That's rare these days. |
9.5 |
| Replay You will definitely want to watch this one again. |
9 |
| Overall Rating: | 9 |
| All scores are out of 10. Overall score is not an average. | |
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