The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since Batman Begins, Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming novel that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanizing performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless, and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it), and Montenegro, where he is pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of millions in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his "armor" and falls in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.

For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Astin-Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?" There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M, who one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, makes you feel it, particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy." But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, now I know what I've been faking all these years. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Casino Royale (click for larger image)

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What a Waste of Time

If the main character of this movie had been named anything else, it never would have been made--or if it had been, it would have lasted about a week in theaters and then disappeared. While the acting is good, the actors have nothing to work with. No plot, no worthwhile dialogue, nothing.
Someday, it would be interesting to see someone actually make a movie from the Ian Flemming books. This movie borrows a Flemming title, two scenes (and a general idea of gambling though the particular card game has changed to "reflect modern sensibilities" I suppose).
The best part of this movie was the ending, but just because that meant it was over.

Much-needed Bond series reboot is a hit-and-miss affair

Casino Royale is directed by Martin Campbell. The film stars Daniel Craig and co-stars Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Simon Abkarian, Caterina Murino, Isaach De Bankole, Jesper Christensen, Ivana Millcevic, Sebastien Foucan, Ludger Pistor, and Claudio Santamaria.

Casino Royale is NOT a James Bond sequel. Rather, it is a reboot of the series, starting from scratch. James Bond has just made two kills on the job and gained his double-O agent status. After pursuing agents of a terrorist agency and preventing the destruction of a new jet airliner prototype at their hands, he is given his first major mission. As one of the finest gamblers in the service, he is recruited to take place in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale in Montenegro. Also participating is Le Chiffre, the financier to the terror agency Bond and MI6 are pursuing. MI6 wants to bankrupt him and offer him protection - in order to gain info on the agency he represents. But Montenegro isn't a peaceful place by any means. With Le Chiffre's clients getting impatient about the whereabouts of the money they deposited with him, he'll do whatever it takes to win this high-stakes game - even if it means Bond's death.

This film is an extremely mixed bag. In all ways, it's a step up from the over-the-top antics of Die Another Day. It's good to see EON is interested in getting in touch with the roots of the series - but they still need a lot of work. Despite a great new actor playing Bond, and a feel more akin to the Fleming novels, it's a sluggish, filler-laden film with a horrible ending. More thought needed to be put into this project.

The most hotly-debated aspect of this film is sure to be Daniel Craig's portrayal of James Bond. He is the sixth actor to play the British agent in an official EON production. I admit, his looks don't exactly suit the part, but as you'll quickly discover, looks aren't everything. Giving a gritty performance with little emotion throughout, he stays very true to the novel version of the character. This doesn't make him the best actor to play Bond on film by any means, but if you're looking for a man who can play Bond the way Fleming originally envisioned the character, look no further than Daniel Craig.

Prior to seeing this film, I had never seen any of the members of the supporting cast in any other films. It's ultimately a hit-and-miss ensemble of supporters, though several of them did manage to win me over. Eva Green steals the show as Vesper Lynd, the beautiful treasury agent who assists Bond during his Montenegro poker game - and later serves as a love interest. She's an incredible Bond girl, easily one of the best in years. Also excellent is the Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen who portrays Le Chiffre, Bond's primary nemesis in the film. Eerie and sadistic, but also with troubles of his own, he has more depth about him than plenty of the more recent Bond villains. Sadly, the rest of the supporters are one-dimensional and uninteresting. There are plenty of characters, but there are too many introduced in too little time - and a good deal of them are disposed of as quickly as they had entered the fray. I really missed Q and Moneypenny, as I'm sure plenty of other Bond fanatics did. Still, I won't deny the good performances of Green and Mikkelsen.

A reboot is something this franchise was in dire need of, especially after the disaster that was Die Another Day. Casino Royale throws the gadgets and technology out the window, and instead focuses on Bond as a character (not many people know that Fleming's original novels DID NOT feature the abundance of gadgets seen in the films!) Being played brilliantly by Craig, this film is, in many ways, a character piece. It's great to see a version of Bond who isn't foolproof and makes mistakes from time to time.

While the series got a much-needed reboot, that doesn't make it a perfect movie.

The pacing of the film is horrible. I admit, Casino Royale was NOT one of the more action-packed Bond novels. And as such, it's arguably the most difficult to bring to the big screen. But the pacing needed serious work. The ENTIRE FIRST HOUR of the film is filler - merely action for action's sake. Too much time is spent at the card table, with an overabundance of characters we don't ever grow to care for. This is the LONGEST film in the history of the James Bond series, approaching two-and-a-half hours. The problem? It didn't have to be. If director Campbell had aborted the entire first hour of filler and sped up the pacing, this could have been a far superior product.

Another huge mistake was setting the film in modern times. The original novel was released and set in 1953. This film was released in 2006 and set in the era in which it was released. Why try to do a modern adaptation of the story? Setting the film in the era of the novel would have created a story even truer to the Fleming novel, which would inevitably have been a superior product. With it set in modern times, we are bogged down by the abundance of technology, September Eleventh references, and talk about the stock market. Also, by setting it in modern times, less-educated viewers might see it as a sequel when it's intended as a reboot. The fact that Judi Dench reprises the role of M doesn't help this any (I'm NOT putting her acting down, though.) Likewise, the original novel used the Russian organization SMERSH as its villains, and Le Chiffre worked for them. Clearly you can't use SMERSH in a film set in modern times, so he works for a generic terror group - like we've seen in oh-so-many other movies. Much like pacing, setting was a huge flaw here.

Other changes plague the film as well. Mathis was one of Bond's most trusted friend's and allies in the novels, but for no apparent reason this film turns him into a double agent! I won't go into all of the changes here, I don't want to turn this review into a rant.

The musical score, once again by David Arnold, doesn't fail to please. It's an emotional score that suits every scene perfectly. Arguably his best and most original score since he took over the role of the series' preferred composer. Chris Cornell, the voice of bands like Soundgarden and Audioslave, performs the title song - which he and Arnold wrote together. It's one of the best title songs to date, beautifully combining his rock sound with Arnold's composer skills. Played over an awesome-looking opening credits scene (which surprisingly features NO nude or scantily-clad women!,) it suits the film nicely. The film isn't perfect, but the music is a step ahead.

I had high hopes for this reboot of the James Bond franchise, and while it succeeds beautifully in some areas, it needed work in others. Overlong, filler-laden, and with too many changes made to the story, it's a middle-of-the-road Bond film. Daniel Craig's acting is great, though, and I look forward to seeing him in later Bond films. I obviously have reservations here, but I am giving the film a marginal recommendation.

Thumbs up

The film was only recently released on DVD, and it included a second disc of bonus material. Amongst the bonuses included are Chris Cornell's music video for the title song, and an awesome documentary/interview segment entitled Bond Girls Are Forever, featuring several of the series' leading ladies from the past four decades plus

Where's the Special Features?

CASINO ROYALE (2006) is the best James Bond film EVER!

Question: There's two discs but no deleted scenes or quality special features? What's the deal with that?

Answer: Sony/MGM just wants us to buy the Ultimate Edition DVD. What a rip-off!

Great film, poor DVD. ****