Skyfall Is Out! Casino Royale Review

26th October 2012

Skyfall is out! What better way to celebrate than to look back…

Here is a review from Robert Mann.

Casino Royale *****

Casino Royale has been the subject of much criticism since it was announced that actor Daniel Craig would be the new 007. I was one of those who were opposed to his casting and I was expecting this film to be a bitter disappointment.

But, rather than letting the Bond series down he in fact turns out to be one of the best things that ever happened to it.

First of all I will say that Casino Royale is very different to all the James Bond movies that have preceded it. Unlike previous entries it isn’t just a popcorn action blockbuster, it is extremely classy. The action scenes are exhilarating just like in previous Bond movies but they are also extremely stylish, gritty and believable. The girls, whilst gorgeous are also intelligent and are more than mere eye candy. And the one liners are both inventive and stylish too.

The film opens with a black and white sequence which shows Bond earning his 00 status by carrying out an assassination on a double agent who has been selling MI6 secrets. This sequence alone shows that this Bond is different to all the others. This one is brutal and tough. This then leads into the classy opening credits sequence which does away with the usual dancing girls. After this Bond goes from Madagascar where he chases a freerunning bombmaker through a construction site and atop a crane. Next, Bond goes to the Bahamas and onto Miami where he thwarts a terrorist plot to blow up a passenger plane in the film’s most exhilarating action sequence. He then goes onto Casino Royale in Montenegro where he faces Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker working for a terrorist organization. Accompanied by the beautiful and watchful Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) he must defeat Le Chiffre in a series of tense poker games. Meanwhile, Bond falls in love with Vesper. The finale of the film takes place in Venice where a run in with Le Chiffre’s employers leads to an exhilarating sequence inside a sinking house.

Everything in this movie works. The performances are superb throughout with Daniel Craig being the highlight. He doesn’t just play James Bond, he is James Bond, albeit in a way he has never been seen before. This Bond is brutal and tough but he is also very human. When he gets into a fight he bleeds and after being tortured by Le Chiffre he is hospitalized. He even cries in this film. Daniel Craig does all this in a manner that is completely believable and at times moving. Other great performances include Eva Green as Vesper, and Mads Mikkelsen who proves to be one of the best Bond villains ever as Le Chiffre. Other great performances come from Judi Dench as M, Caterina Murino as the ill fated Solange and Jeffrey Wright as CIA operative Felix Leiter.
Of course, it’s not just the actors that make this movie. The film is exceptionally well scripted with Bond veterans Neil Purvis and Robert Wade joined by Oscar winner Paul Haggis. And the action scenes are extremely well done, both eye-popping and realistic without any use of visual effects like in previous movies. Even the poker scenes inCasino Royale are tense and suspenseful. Casino Royale is without a doubt the best James Bond film ever made and Daniel Craig does the most original and interesting portrayal of James Bond ever. As someone who was opposed to this film in more ways than one it should really mean something when I tell you that you MUST see this movie. You won’t be disappointed.

NOTE: This is a repost of a review that I wrote for the film back in 2006. If it doesn’t seem as good as many of my other reviews it is simply because my reviewing technique has improved considerably in recent years.

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