Saturday, November 18, 2006

Movie review:
Casino Royale

By Mike Orren

Casino Royale

James Bond's first 007 mission takes him to Madagascar, where he is to spy on a terrorist Mollaka. Not everything goes as planned and Bond decides to investigate, independently of the MI6 agency, in order to track down the rest of the terrorist cell. Following a lead to the Bahamas, he encounters Dimitrios and his girlfriend, Solange. He learns that Dimitrios is involved with Le Chiffre, banker to the world's terrorist organizations. Secret Service intelligence reveals that Le Chiffre is planning to raise money in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale. MI6 assigns 007 to play against him, knowing that if Le Chiffre loses, it will destroy his organization. 'M' places Bond under the watchful eye of the beguiling Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together--and even torture at the hands of Le Chiffre. In Montenegro, Bond allies himself with Matthis, MI6's local field agent, and Felix Leiter, who is representing the interests of the CIA. The marathon game proceeds with dirty tricks and violence, raising the stakes beyond blood money and reaching a terrifying climax.

Source: Cinema Source

• Showtimes and more on Casino Royale

I grew up on James Bond movies, but had pretty much given up on the Pierce Brosnan version of the franchise. Goldeneye ranked with the best of the Bond films, but it had been all downhill from there.

But, having heard good buzz on the new production, and having been impressed by new Bond actor Daniel Craig in Layer Cake, I eagerly settled into the AMC Northpark 15 for a sold-out opening-night showing of Casino Royale.

I'd heard a lot of people talk about how Craig' Bond hearkens back to Sean Connery, but I found him to be thoroughly his own man. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that he falls beyond Connery on the Bond spectrum, from intense/gritty to plain silly.

Craig -- Connery -- Lazenby -- Dalton -- Brosnan -- Moore -- Sellers/Niven/Allen

Royale, although modern in its setting, rolls the series back to the beginning, as 007 is a newly-minted agent on his first mission. The story, involving a plot whereby terrorist bankers are playing with their clients' money and profiting by shorting stocks that they then send plummeting through their own machinations is twisty without being incomprehensible.

So as not to ruin the story or the great moments in this film, here's some overall impressions:

- The only thing that seems to have survived from the most recent Bond films is Judi Dench. And that's as it should be. I love John Cleese, but he wouldn't have fit into this world. Goldeneye director Martin Campbell is back -- and I consider that a good thing.

- The film is grittier and more "realistic," if you could apply such a term to a spy movie. It's like they took the Bond canon and mashed it up with Tarantino. There's a torture scene -- which is also Craig's finest bit of acting -- that had me humming a certain Steeler's Wheel tune.

- Refreshing changes: Minimal CGI; gadgets weren't over the top silly; Bond girls (on the whole) still beautiful, but more real and less model-y. Also, I liked seeing a Bond movie where there were a lot of crafty villains but no one megalomaniacal overlord -- and no world domination plots, just good old-fashioned human moneygrubbing.

- Still annoying: April and I played product-placement-bingo. The game was won before the leading lady was even introduced.

- Some reviewers have tagged Craig down for not being a witty Bond. But, I find that his general intensity makes the rarer wisecrack much funnier.

- My biggest annoyance was the unconvincing poker scenes.

- Best Bond opening titles ever. Modern, but still hearkening to great 60's graphics.

- Worst Bond theme ever. I think they thought they were going to get edgy by going to Chris Cornell. Sounded more like a wimpier Coldplay, if you can imagine such a thing.

The one exception to the Bond girl point above was leading lady Eva Green. Not to be mean, 'cos god knows I'm no Daniel Craig, but she was physically unconvincing as a Bond girl. She seemed more fit for the role of jilted spinster in a period drama. I thought perhaps I was being a shallow pinup-obsessed guy with my thoughts on that, but April found her even more unconvincing than I did.

In all, it was a great reinvention of the Bond franchise, pointing it in the right direction for the next few sequels. A good popcorn movie that didn't insult the intelligence and walked the fine line between shattering the cliches and shaking them off like an ill-fitting tuxedo.

See more stories in:

• Arts > Movies / Film

Comments

John Meyer Staff

Nice review, Mike. I, too, grew up on the Bond films (in a much earlier era than you, I'm sorry to say) and am enamored (in a perfectly normal guy sort of way) with the portrayals of Sean Connery, along with the musical scoring of John Barry.

Good thing the Dallas cops didn't get wind of that poker action, though. Might have spoiled the film.

('Course, they could have just moved the whole thing to Oklahoma.)

1 year, 9 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Colby Walton Verified

Mike, I concur with most of your comments. Daniel Craig was a very solid Bond, and the movie overall was quite enjoyable, lacking much of the droll smugness of most Roger Moore flicks and some of the later Brosnans. I agree about the poker scenes being unconvincing, with the commentary by Mathis being particularly excruciating ("He's gone all in... that means all his chips are at risk!" Okay, maybe that's not a verbatim transcript, but it seemed that bad.) And Bond driving a Ford? Really? Talk about your sticking-out-like-a-sore-thumb product placement (I say, as I type on my Sony Vaio, check the time on my Omega watch - no, silly girl, not a Rolex -- and peruse coded text messages on my Sony Ericsson cellphone). My one quibble is with your comments on Eva Green. I thought she was most appropriate as a match for the Bond depicted in this film... a Bond who was looking for someone comparable in mental acuity and superficial steeliness, as opposed to a Bond looking merely for a nice romp in the sack. Anyway, I thought the one thing the film was lacking was a role for Phil Hellmuth -- THAT would have been worth the price of admission, to witness him whining after busting out on a "bad beat," and then to see Le Chiffre and Bond tag-team whoop his whiny butt. But maybe that's just me...

1 year, 9 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

I concur, except that I didn't see her mental acuity either...

1 year, 9 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Colby Walton Verified

How about the scene on the train, where she read him like a book, immediately after he did the same (but to a lesser degree) to her? I thought that established her bona fides in terms of observational skills, analytical abilities and capability for rapid-fire banter. Of course, Eva Green puts on a far more impressive display in The Dreamers....

1 year, 9 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

To my point about Chris Cornell's lame-ass theme, here's a look at best/worst Bond songs: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/1...

1 year, 9 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )