|
Movie Review - Casino Royale (2006)
|
|
|
|
|
(What this rating means)
|
|
| |
|
| Director: |
Martin Campbell |
| Starring: |
Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, and Judi Dench |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity) |
| Length: |
144 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Adventure/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
None. |
| Studio: |
Sony Pictures |
| Website: |
Casino Royale |
| Release: |
November 17, 2006 |
|
PLOT
|
Exploring the early career of James Bond, Casino Royale takes audiences along for his first "007" mission.
A mission that leads him to Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), a scar-eyed banker for some nasty terrorists. In order to
stop him and bring down the terrorist network, Bond must beat Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game at Casino
Royale.
A hottie Treasury official, Vesper Lynd (Green), is assigned to deliver Bond's stake for the game and to watch
over the government's money. Bond initially doesn't appreciate having a babysitter, but as he and Vesper survive
a series of lethal attacks by Le Chiffre and his henchmen, an inevitable mutual attraction develops. My
favorite Bond film ensues.
|
|
JOHNNY'S TAKE
|
If you've listened closely then you've heard the whining and complaining from the Bond purists regarding the
selection of Daniel Craig as the next Bond. "But he's blonde!" "He's not handsome enough!" "He's not
enough of a lady's man!" Y'all need me to call you a wah-mbulance? Get over it, crybabies. Daniel Craig
IS Bond. That's right; I said it.
To be fair, I'll point out that I have no real allegiance to the Bond franchise. I'm too young to remember much
about Sean Connery's forays, and I mostly rolled my eyes at the cheesiness of Brosnan's attempts. I don't
despise Pierce as Bond, but come on, remember his ridiculously fake CGI surfing? He was one step away
from punching out a shark.
But Daniel Craig? Now here's someone I can buy as an agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service. He's
a tough, no-nonsense guy who kills without blinking and doesn't let it bother him, because, as he points out,
he wouldn't be very good at his job if he did.
If you want somebody who looks like he just stepped out of a hair salon then maybe he's not your ideal, but give
me a guy who actually looks like he's been in a fight or two. If I saw Craig walking down the street? I'd think
twice before messing with him. If I saw Pierce Brosnan? I'd be more inclined to ask what hair conditioner he
uses.
Like last year's Batman Begins, Casino Royale has reinvented a
franchise. This is a darker, edgier Bond. 007 with a couple of extra shots of adrenaline. Sure, the action
scenes require a small suspension of disbelief, but they deliver, and it's nice to be able to see where the
budget went. Other high-dollar blockbusters should take note (COUGH Superman
Returns COUGH).
You know what else I liked about the movie?
"Eva Green's rear end?"
Well, yeah, but that's not what I was talking about.
"Daniel Craig's rear end?"
What? No! Why would you even say that? Get out of here. Sheesh. I also liked that Bond was required to do
most everything on his own. He had to use his mind, strength, and combat skills to get the job done.
There isn't an abundance of fancy little gadgets and invisible cars. I like the basis in reality.
"Well Johnny, in your wise and omnipotent opinion, what would you say were the movie's weak points?"
Good question, observational reader. The movie runs a little long at almost 2 1/2 hours. I felt things
started to drag during the third act when they spent a large amount of time focusing on the romance between
Bond and Vesper. We're talking long stretches of Bond on the beach and in bed, telling Vesper his desire to
give up his profession for her. Yeah, yeah, we get it - now give us some action!
A better integration of the action and slower scenes would have helped the pace move more briskly, so a runtime
trim wouldn't have hurt my feelings. No big deal though. From a pure entertainment perspective, this doesn't
disappoint.
If the "purists" are still out there whining and complaining then ignore them. Daniel Craig has done something
that Pierce Brosnan never accomplished - he's made me look forward to the next installment in the series. I think
we've found a new, legitimate action hero. Thanks, Mr. Craig, you've shown me that Bond can rise above sexual
escapades and cheesy one-liners. Bravo!
Hey Pierce? Enjoy making Mrs. Doubtfire 2. Your services are no longer required. You may go now.
|
|
ODDS & ENDS
|
- Based on Ian Fleming's first novel to feature Bond, which was published in 1953.
- "In this film James Bond is a darker character, which is how Ian Fleming originally wrote him," says Daniel
Craig. "We start right at the beginning of Bond's career, when he has a lot of rough edges. He's a loner, and he
doesn't like to get involved with people."
- "When we audition for the role of Bond, we ask actors to do the scene in From Russia with Love, where
Bond meets Tatiana Romanova for the first time," says producer Michael G. Wilson. "That scene has everything you
want to know about a potential Bond: drama, romance and action."
- "Vesper is not the classic, iconic Bond girl, wearing a bikini, being sexy and firing guns," says Eva Green.
"There is more to her than that. She is the first woman Ian Fleming wrote about, and she has a great impact on
Bond's life. She is the root of all the Bond women who follow and explains why he behaves the way he does with
those women."
- Green went on to add that Vesper is such a complex Bond girl that the character required an actress whose skills
are better than all the other previous Bond girls' skills combined. Or did she?
- Reading the press notes is kind of like reading Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Check this out: "The
astoundingly fleet and nimble bomb maker Mollaka, whom Bond pursues through the Nambutu Embassy, is played by
Sébastien Foucan, the co-creator and one of the foremost practitioners in the art of Parkour."
- If I read about who Mollaka beget then I'm out of here.
- The production started off in Modrany and Barrandov Studios, in the Czech Republic, before moving on to the
Bahamas.
- In the Fleming novel, the game played at Casino Royale is Chemin de Fer. For the film, the producers changed
the game to Texas Hold 'em poker. Most likely because the average moviegoer has never heard of Chemin de
Fer.
- I can neither confirm nor deny that producers were close to changing Bond's suits from Brioni to
Target for similar reasons.
- Daniel Craig was in Layer Cake with Colm Meaney who was in Mystery, Alaska with
Russell Crowe who is in the upcoming American Gangster with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with
Kevin Bacon.
|
|
MAMA'S APPROVAL
|
There's not a whole lot to offend here. Profanity is minimal, consisting of nothing more than a few words you
can hear on network TV. The sexual content is kept to a minimum. Some of the action and violence may be a
little too much for the really young ones. One scene of torture is the hardest to watch.
Oh, and the nudity mentioned in the MPAA rating is Bond's side nudity as he's tied to a chair and "questioned"
by the bad guy.
|
|
TRAILER COMPARISON
|
The movie delivers on all the action promised in the trailer.
|
|
THE GIST
|
Casino Royale is now officially my favorite Bond movie, and Daniel Craig is easily my favorite Bond.
It drags in spots due to its long runtime, but the action scenes are impressive enough to warrant a theatrical
viewing.
|
|
