Review: Casino Royale
Martin Campbell and EON Productions have gone to great lengths to convince audiences that the new James Bond film, Casino Royale, is both modern and something very, very traditional. Note the addition of Ian Fleming’s name to the title (Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale). Note the posters of the new Bond, Daniel Craig, sitting furtively at a poker table instead of running, jumping, or flying. The opening credits are as retro as they come; there’s no tech-oriented CGI sequence here. The Brosnan years have ended, they’re telling us. Now we’re going back to the basics.
Bond purists–and, well, people who like good movies–should be pleased by the move. What we have here is the Batman Begins of the Bond franchise: an attempt to restore some dignity to a series that had gotten rather appallingly out of hand. Casino Royale is based on Fleming’s first Bond novel, and has been made for the big screen twice before, though never as an “official” EON production. Like Batman Begins, Casino Royale is about roots–returning to the Bond canon and exploring who Fleming made Bond to be. There’s actual character development (previously a dirty phrase) here, an emphasis on person and relationship rather than situation. It’s a little startling at first–a good modern Bond movie!–but the change is definitely a step forward for the Bond brand as a whole.
The casting of Craig also signals an abrupt change in the tenor of the series. Craig is, in essence, the anti-Brosnan. Brosnan always came off as a bit of an ineffectual Bond: suave, athletic, sure, but also a bit of a lightweight. There’s nothing light about Craig. He’s physically bulky, for sure, but more importantly, he’s a brooder. “Tortured” is his thing, and he does it well. Also, “beaten and bloodied,” whereas Brosnan never seemed to even wrinkle his tuxedo jacket. Craig is ideal for the role of Retro Bond: he’s like the strange, emotionally brittle love child of Paul Newman and Humphrey Bogart (though, come to think of it, who wouldn’t be strange and emotionally brittle with that kind of parentage?). He looks so much like a 1950s movie star that he almost looks colorized.
The surprising addition of character to Bond’s repertoire has some significant effects on the movie. First off, true action-sequence die-hards may be a little disappointed. Casino Royale has plenty of stunts, a couple of elaborate action scenes, several explosions, and one very satisfying car roll-over–so, no shortage of mayhem–but the stunts aren’t the point in quite the same way they were during the Brosnan administration. They’re fun and sometimes impressive, but they aren’t the bread and butter of the movie. Also, there’s an element of darkness that’s pleasingly true to the character but changes the tone of the series: it turns out that Bond is one screwed-up agent who does disturbing work, and Casino Royale emphasizes that tension. He is both heartless and tremendously devoted, bitter and dogged about doing right, and it’s that paradox that makes his character intriguing and relatable, while also giving Craig something interesting to do. It’s worth noting that a few scenes are hard to watch (naked torture springs to mind), but the willingness to deal with Bond as a personality also makes this the most interesting and most in-depth look at Bond thus far.
Thankfully, Bond himself isn’t the only one who gets a brain and a heart in this installment: the Bond Girl also returns to her roots. After hitting rock bottom a few years back with Denise Richards, it’s a joy to watch the wonderful Eva Green as Bond’s true love, Vesper Lynd. The hallmarks of Bond-love (Bondage?) are here–this is canon, after all–but Vesper is a real character with real emotions and motivations underneath her truly fabulous evening gowns. There’s actually some uncertainty about her allegiances and general character, which is unusually complex for the way the Bond brand ususally deals with women. The stakes are raised even more because Vesper is key to Bond’s character later on, and the movie deals with that in a satisfying way.
The upshot: The best Bond movie in many, many years. If you’d given up on the series, this is a great opportunity to go back and rekindle the love.
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November 19th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
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November 20th, 2006 at 9:24 am
Excellent review and great movie! There were many groans during the torture scene..ouch (a little to the right..) And applause at the end. A perfert injection of life into the bond franchise.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
love the review. can’t wait to see the movie. my alter ego is a bond girl!
November 20th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Excellent review and another thumbs up for the movie. Has anyone actually given it a bad review yet?
November 20th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
It was a great movie, and the running scene was insane, probably the best Bond chase scene ever, and there were no cars involved. I actually found the car wreck scene to be more painful to watch then the torture scene myself.
November 21st, 2006 at 4:51 am
I didn’t like it. The one thing they forgot to add was Bond’s panache, his wry sense of humor. This one was a little too brutal for me - the influence of “Reservoir Dogs” was a little too much. And where was Q? There were no gadgets in this movie. He certainly could have used one in the poison scene.
Plus (and I think this deserves a separate post) you didn’t discuss the villian. I thought he was just a wee bit too much like Dr. Evil, don’t you think? I was waiting for the pinky to fly up to his lips. He needed an evil pet, like a cat or iguana or something. Also, why exactly did he bleed through his eyes? That was never explained. I did like his black-on-black tux, though. That was snappy.
I was checking my watch at about two hours. The last forty minutes or so were too much.
November 30th, 2006 at 2:16 am
Seeing as this supposed to be the “how James Bond came to be” movie I think it was before he had a relationship with Q. I loved the film. Daniel Craig was great. I just wish there were more car chase scenes.
-Bill
December 7th, 2006 at 11:09 am
I miss James already. This is not the James Bond I know and love. I have been a James Bond fan since the first Dr. No in the 60’s. I did not care about character development then and I do not now. I want My Bond to extract himself from all dangerous situations ingeniously. Granted Craig is one fine cut of a man, that entire broody tough-guy persona was wasted in this movie. Did he win one fight? This James is a woosie. Seems everyone was saving his butt, when he is supposed to be saving the world. I love James Bond movies because I know he is going to win, the joy and the surprise is in the how. My Bond is an exciting escape artist. Bring him back! Save the character development for some other movie.
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December 8th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
I guess I shouldn’t think about the plot so much. It bothered me that the girlfriend was so shaken by the violence in the stairwell that she was in shock, sitting on the floor of the shower. But at the same time she is a double agent ruthlessly willing to manipulate Bond? The two persons can’t be the same.
I did like the feel of the film …a wide range of the most beautiful cars, restaurants, clothes… and bodies. But we also got to see the dirty spy world in other countries … the contrast of the casino vs the snake and mongoose fight was striking.
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