Casino Royale

This might sound controversial, but if you take your fan goggles off, Bond movies have always been either pretty bad or just alright. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of a Bond film: a spy thriller starring a suave agent, who uses wit to get out of difficult situations. But the films themselves never really delivered on that idea. First off, James Bond is not suave at all. He's a bit of an **** and a raging misogynist. He's also a complete moron, unbefittingly so for a spy. His signature move is heading into the villain's lair with no plan whatsoever, relying solely on dumb luck and the sheer improbability that thousands of bullets will all miss him during the inevitable shoot-out. Fans have labelled the films "campy", but I'd call them "unintentionally really stupid". The villains are cartoonish and under-developed. The plot tends to meander wildly. The humour often conflicts with the movie's tone. Worse yet, the movies are all highly formulaic, adhering to rigid traditions like they're the ten commandments. They must all feature over the top gadgets, a fancy car, a dumb Bond girl, etc -- a whole checklist of Bond tropes, which ultimately makes them feel tired and uninspired. The team behind Casino Royale were clearly aware of those issues, and they had a genius idea: strip it all away. Take the essence of James Bond and spy movies, and trim all the fat, keeping only what makes them fun, interesting, unique. Set the film in reality, not the ridiculous parallel universe that the Bond series has always existed in. In doing so, they succeeded in creating what might be the best film franchise reboot of all time. The silly gadgets are replaced by a practical utility kit in Bond's car. The villains now have actual human motivations and act like the genius criminals they're supposed to be, rather than petty thugs and raving lunatics. The Bond girl isn't just eye candy, but an accomplice to Bond, with vital importance to the plot. The film's tone matches its content, with humour peppered in as appropriate. Bond uses his wit rather than his luck - shocking, I know. And when he has to kill someone, their deaths have appropriate impact, instead of feeling comical. The biggest changes in the formula pertain to the character of Bond himself, unsurprisingly. Right from the get-go, he's clearly established as the reckless womanizer his character has always been. However, as Casino Royale is an origin story, we finally get to see why Bond is the way he is, which makes a world of difference. Daniel Craig's stellar performance allows us to finally see Bond in a human light. His character develops over time: he starts off as a hard-ass, but when a loved one dies near the end, we the audience can intensely feel how badly this affects him in Craig's performance. Craig isn't the only actor to deliver a superb performance, however. Mads Mikkelsen is timeless as Le Chiffre, the primary antagonist. He masterfully portrays a brilliant villain in a complicated, desperate situation. Eva Green plays Vesper Lynd, the "Bond girl", to perfection. A scene of hers in the shower near the mid point was a master class in character development. Really, every actor playing a named character in this film, no matter how minor, delivered an amazing performance that truly helped set up the world and its stakes. The screen writers did an amazing job of taking the first ever Bond novel and bringing it into the 21st century. But director Martin Campbell's role in bringing it all together cannot be understated. Every scene was superbly designed and shot. The pacing in particular stands out. The movie spends a modest amount of time at the start setting up the world of James Bond & his character, but dialogue / story scenes (which are the main focus) and action scenes flow off each other in perfect harmony. Neither moves too fast or drags on for too long, which is a common flaw of many action films, including the Bond series. By the time the film's titular casino sequence begins at the mid point, all of the characters have rational goals & motivations clearly established, and the plot proceeds in a coherent direction. As you'd expect of a spy movie, there are lots of twists, but none of them feel cheap or implausible. You don't have to completely suspend your disbelief and forget the main character is supposed to be a spy in order to enjoy Casino Royale -- a sin that's all too common among Bond films. Everything about this movie is executed masterfully, simply put. To me, it represents the gold standard for both Bond movies and spy films in general -- what they can be, and should aim to be. It set the bar so high that subsequent Craig films couldn't even reach it, unfortunately. It transformed a long-exhausted, goofy (sorry, "campy") series that was was about spies only nominally, into a realistic, gritty masterpiece, which thrills you from start to finish. Kudos to the entire Casino Royale team for this absolute gem.

Casino Royale is clearly an important reset for Bond, and I get why a lot of people love it. Daniel Craig brings a colder, more grounded energy that works well, and the movie definitely feels more serious than the older entries. The action is solid, and the stakes feel higher than usual.That said, it never fully pulled me in. Some parts felt longer than they needed to be, and while the tone shift is interesting, it also made the movie feel a bit heavy at times. I respected it more than I enjoyed it. Still a good film overall, just not one I personally connected with as much. A fair 6/10 for me.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I just cannot relate with this through and through unsympathic James Bond. The character just feels outdated. The Story is weak. Why is Bond able to defeat the bad guy in poker although that man is a genious? I dont know. But Mads Mikkelsen gives a great performance as the bad guy. I gave the movie a try because the poker setting looked exciting - but especially that parts went down rather boring.

I gave this movie a try, but I couldn't get past the murders of innocent bystanders. There is this scene I can't forget where a blue collar worker is pushed of a building under construction to fall to his death. His gas welder plummets to the ground and explodes to kill of another group of workers. Add this to two scene were Bond escapes with his life because a windscreen of a bulldozer stops bullets and his opponent ran out of bullets when he has Bond cornered and he comes over as a murderous skill-less thug who got lucky. I prefer another kind of bond.