Review 166: Casino Royale
Based on the first James Bond novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, James Bond (Daniel Craig) goes on his first ever mission as a 00. Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) is a banker to the world's terrorists. He is participating in a poker game at Montenegro, where he must win back his money, in order to stay safe among the terrorist market. The boss of MI6, known simply as M (Judi Dench) sends Bond, along with Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. Bond, using help from Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) and having Vesper pose as his wife, enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career. But if Bond defeats Le Chiffre, will he and Vesper Lynd remain safe?
The plot is fantastic and possibly one of the most well written James Bond films to date.
It takes a darker, grittier, more emotional, more realistic approach to Bond and deals with more reallistic threats such as Terrorism.
Because it deals with those topics this makes the film feel very rooted in a post-9/11 world.
It's a much harder and more realistic script that harkens back to From Russia with Love.
It's also a brilliant study of/origin story for the Bond character: Where did he come from, how did he get his 00 licence, why is he the way he is? The idea of him becoming James Bond over the course of the film as well as emotionally what it took for him to become the James Bond that we all know and love and how emotionally closed off he is.
What Casino Royale tries and accomlishes to great effect is a complete breakdown of the Bond character which is fitting considering that it's based on the first Bond novel.
It also feels different from other Bond films prior to it and that's because in this film there's no Q, there's no MoneyPenny, there's no gadgets, there are none of the usual Bond tropes to be found in this film. Tonally it feels very taut and stripped down with less emphasis on outlandish plots and villains and more emphasis on story, characters and real stakes.
Because the films more gritty and realistic tone, it gets to really emphasis, Bonds vulnerable side: Bond, throughout this film, has to worm his way out of tricky situations using mostly his wits and his ingenuity and doesn't get an easy save from one of Q's gadgets.
Overall, Casino Royale returns to the dark tales of Ian Fleming but keeps it fresh and modern.
Returning director Martin Campbell direction is stylish and all around brilliant, the cinematography is gorgeous and captures the beauty of the films locations, the score by David Arnold is awesome and possibly his best of the series, the locations are beautiful, the action scenes are exciting, brutal and well choreographed, the production design is excellent, the costume design is majestic, the make up is rich (the many cuts and bruises that Bond gains during the fight scenes stay with him in the aftermarth beautifully and effectively showcasing his vulnerability), the effects are terrific, the stunts are very outstanding, the sound effects are brilliant, there are some great scenes of intensity and suspense, the title song by Chis Cornell is superb and the ending was perfect.
This film has some of the best acting in the series:
Eva Green is superb as Vesper Lynn and possibly ranks as one of the best Bond Girls. As she articulately states "I'm the Money". She's a treasury official but she's also a bit of an enigma, she's complex and it's difficult to see through her. She's like a sphinx, you can never understand who she is. She's sharp, sassy, bright, intelligent and those are the elements that draw Bond to her and the bottom line is that she has a profound effect on him.
Judi Dench is fabulous as usual as M, her place in this particular Bond film makes for a really interesting dynamic as he's portrayed for all intense and purposes as a "blunt instrument" and she looks after him and keeps him in check. Although she feels that she's promoted Bond too soon and chides him for his rash actions
Giancarlo Giannini is great as Mathis, Bond's contact in Montenegro
Jeffrey Wright is wonderful as Felix Leiter and possibly gives the best performance out of any of the previous actors in the series to date.
Mads Mikkelsen is simply fantastic sinister as La Chiffre, not only is he ruthless and pitiless but his motivations are simple, straightforward and easy to understand: He needs to get money to finance terrorists and if he doesn't he's a dead man. As M rather eloquently puts it "If he looses he'll have nowhere to run". So he's not just gambling at the films titular casino just for clients but also his life. This humanises him greatly - more so than any villain we've had up to this point.
Not lagging far behind him is Jesper Christensen as the mysterious and sinister Mr. White. He’s this incredibly menacing presence, the one who La Chiffre answers too and what intriguing is how very little is known about him.
I've saved the protagonist until last: as for Daniel Craig as James Bond - this guy's brilliant!
He effortlessly lays his own claim to the iconic part and beautifully establishes himself as the James Bond for the 21st Century. His version of James Bond is an anti-hero, the question Craig forces us as an audience to ask as we watch him is "Is James Bond a good guy or is he a bad guy who's working for the good guys? Bond is, after all, an assassin at his core when you come down to it." Craig also brought a lot of dry humor that fits very well with his interpretation.
Even the small roles are superbly cast and make an impact, Freerunner Sebastian Foucaun, Simon Abkarian, Claudio Santamaria, Isaach de Bankole, Ivana Milicevic, Caterina Marino & Tobias Menzies
Casino Royale perfectly updates James Bond for the 21st Century and hopefully we can look forward to new adventures in this new form of Bond, 5/5
The Anonymous Critic
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