Casino Royale Review

Back when this film came out in 2006, there wasn't much hope for the future of Bond. The last few films had been train wrecks when it came to getting a good critical response. With the exception of Goldeneye and two or three Roger Moore films, there hadn't been a truly good Bond movie since Sean Connery gave up the role. That was all about to change. Eon Productions brought back Martin Campbell to direct Casino Royale, his last Bond film having been Goldeneye. What little hope there had been for Casino Royale was completely demolished when it was announced Daniel Craig would be playing Bond. It was a huge gamble. (No pun intended.)

The film opens in the classic Bond manner, with Bond on a random mission which leads into a chase. Once we finally get to the actual story, we learn that a gambler named Le Chiffre (I'm still not sure how that's accurately pronounced) is joining a high-stakes poker game, and Bond is sent to join the game and beat him. It's immediately evident that this will be a different type of Bond film. Despite the fact that the movie would seemingly be all story and no action, it maintains an excellent balance, injecting action when the story starts to slow down.

Perhaps the thing that separates this film so much from all other Bond movies is the emotion that Bond shows. After so many movies showing Bond to be a calm, emotionless killing machine, we're finally shown here that he does genuinely care about people, and it's only because of this fact that he's so cold. The romance between Vesper and Bond makes what would already be a fantastic movie simply incredible. Bond finally gives up his playboy lifestyle and genuinely falls in love, even deciding to quit his job to be with her. Basically, he's finally human, and that's why this movie ultimately succeeds on so many levels.

The acting is spot-on. Daniel Craig is easily the best Bond to have ever graced the screen. He portrays Bond as a scarred individual who still feels deeply, despite his outward appearance of being cold. Eva Green doesn't quite stand out to the degree Craig does, but she does a good job with the role she's given. The cinematography was top-notch, and the editing was excellent as well. The movie never feels unbalanced or poorly paced. David Arnold's score is pure brilliance. The action tracks don't necessarily stand out nearly as much as the more emotional ones, but they are certainly satisfactory. Perhaps the reason for this is because this movie is ultimately a prequel. Bond is not yet the agent we're so familiar with. He's more vulnerable and emotional.

Overall, this is a simply fantastic film. I would recommend it not only to Bond fans, but to fans of action movies in general. You won't regret it. 5 out of 5 Aston Martins from me.

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