The long-running James Bond series is successfully and effectively rebooted with this more grimacing, realistic depiction. The previous installment, Die Another Day released in 2002, was the only Bond movie in the series that unfortunately relied too much on its special effects and succumbed to the wonders of CGI. Casino Royale does not succumb to that, and in fact gets back to Bond’s roots in a modernized tradition of the older, 60s Bonds that starred a classic Sean Connery and were the best in the series.
British actor Daniel Craig was chosen to play the lead. As a Bond actor, he’s not my personal favorite, as he’s more serious and straightforward. He’s definitely no Connery, but he’s more than Dalton or even Roger Moore was.
The film opens in Prague, where Bond, in his first mission for M16, completes his second kill and is upgraded to 00 status. Meanwhile, a mathematic genius banker, named Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) has signed a deal with terrorists to form a new haven for their funds. Bond travels to the Bahamas and uncovers the plot by way of Le Chiffre’s associate Alex Dimitrios. Bond teams up with Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and Rene Mathis, an undercover ally, and travels to Montenegro to join a high-stakes poker tournament that Le Chiffre has set up to recover his lost funds and please his clients. If Bond beats Le Chiffre, then Le Chiffre will be forced to go to the British government for help, but if Bond loses, the British government would have officially financed terrorists. Along the way, Bond starts a romantic relationship with Vesper, but she holds secrets of her own that could foil Bond's entire mission.
The entire plot is practically divided into three parts, with each of them leading up to the other, and the third and final act taking us to an exciting finale, that in turns leads us to a cliffhanger.
The entire plot is practically divided into three parts, with each of them leading up to the other, and the third and final act taking us to an exciting finale, that in turns leads us to a cliffhanger.
Casino Royale depicts a more inexperienced and vulnerable, though yet still determined, Bond. It drops the idea of the silly gadgets and all that to bring a much more realistic, deep and emotional tone to the franchise. It's also one of the few Bond movies that can work as a romantic-action pic just as well as it can as a Bond movie (on Her Majesty's Secret Service is an exception).
In a sense, Casino Royale rebooted the series when it needed it. Oh sure, if another Bond sequel after Die another Day had been made the series would have been fine and stayed on strong legs financially, but Casino Royale doesn’t worry about gunfights and explosions (though there are plenty of those), but focuses much more on humanity, it's characters, and specifically on what Bond is going through on his first mission. Director Martin Campbell makes Casino Royale one of the most original and skillful origin stories made on screen. Casino Royale takes the Bond character back to it's roots, to get it all started up again for a new century. In doing so, the results are almost masterful.
This is one of the best Bond movies in a long, long time. It breaks away from the cartoonish absurdity present in a few other previous Bond adventures.
Casino Royale was also thoroughly entertaining and quite engaging. I enjoyed nearly every minute of it. While 144 minutes may be a little too long for an action flick, it doesn’t deviate from the soul of the film that has completely succeeded at reinventing the franchise.
Casino Royale is the starting point for a new type of Bond era, and one I think will allow the series to live on. Of all the recent Bonds, this one is by far the most effective. It may not be as classic like in Connery’s era, but on the whole, Casino Royale is one of the best in the series. Not too many Bonds or other action flicks can get much better then this, which makes Casino Royale one of the most accomplished, if not the most accomplished, action films of the decade.
**** ½ /5
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