Casino Royale
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site/
***

144 minute

Directed by Martin Campbell
Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade

With: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini

"It doesn't bother you, killing those people...?
Well, I wouldn't be very good at my job if it did."

Back when Daniel Craig was announced as the sixth James Bond (or seventh if the count the one TV episode) I had many worries. I thought his age was wrong, he looked too rough and his hair was totally off.
Moreover, I worried every time I watched one of the trailers for Casino Royale. I worried that even though everyone said "No" that with Craig in the lead it would turn into another spoof, just as the first one was supposed to be.
Then it hit me that I was also worried that the film might not be as bad as I expected; and that was reinforced each time I saw one of the trailers for the film. Heck fire (Old Southern Term) this was starting to look good. Daniel Craig actually seemed to be turning into what I thought Bond should be.
Then I saw the film Thursday night with some friends. It was amazing to say the least. It starts out at the very beginning of Bond's 007 career, just after he has been promoted.
As with all James Bond films, this is an action movie. Perhaps I should put the word "Action" in bold, since the film starts with action and actually ends with action it is the epitome of an Action movie.
If you remember, back during the review of the "Mar***" I decried that there had been no real 'action movie' all year. That they had tried, but never succeeded. Well, with "Casino Royale" they broke all the ropes and passed into the "Best James Bond Film since Oh Her Majesty's Secret Service."
Myself, I admit that I got tired of 'Pretty Boy' Bonds. Roger Moore did have an elegance about him that none of the others had up to then and he tried to reconcile that elegance by feigned superiority over his enemies that never felt right; and while Pierce Bronson was downright pretty, but he was never as ruthless as Bond needed to be.
Timothy Dalton made a good Bond villain.
However, George Lazenby actually did a great job in picking up the mantle of Bond on HMSS. I wish he had gone on to do the Moore films, but that is the way the cards fell. Lazenby had a ruthless attractiveness about him that Sean Connery was able to create and define with no trouble.
Where Connery was believable as Bond, Lazenby was believable as a new agent given that name and rank.
On Daniel Craig's side is the ability to not only be believable as a new Bond, but also be believable as Bond, the same way Connery was able to do.
In short, both Craig and Connery are Bond. They have the charisma, the charm, the roguish good looks, the ruthless nature, the ability to turn off emotion to get a job done and the tenacity to carry on, no matter what the risks.
Moreover, as good as Sean Connery was, this is the first time I have seen James Bond on screen the way Ian Fleming wrote him.
This is a mind-blowing movie. Starting with the black and white pre-titles to what is one of the best title segments I have seen in years, including a really great title track this time. No Hip Hop, Top 40 stuff, just a nice bluesy almost big band sound.
Style and grace are all over the place in this one. From African chase scene to the interior shots of the Casino Royale, this is a beautiful film.
Eva Green does a much better job here then she did in Kingdom of Heaven, thank God. In addition, Judy Dench repeats her role as "M" bringing new depth to the character that has never been seen before.
Mads Mikkelsen, as the villain Le Chiffre is perfect. He is slimy, evil and I think he cheats at Poker, which makes him just under a dung beetle to me. Nevertheless, he is fine as the moneyman for a group of terrorists who actually loses a few hundred million thanks to James Bond and another action sequence you have to see to believe.
The addition of Jeffrey Wright as C.I.A. agent Felix Leiter again proves to be an excellent move. He brings his experience and varied work to the project and shows off a style that American Agents need at this time. Now, if only they were this cool.
And Giancarlo Giannini playing Mathis again shows why this man is one of the most under-rated actors in the business today. He is suave, cool and has a style and grace all his own. He will impress you.
Sure, some things are going to be missed; fancy gadgets (although Bond's Aston Martin DBS is loaded with some cool options), Q is not here, and the Bond-theme has been changed slightly to make it a bit more modern, but it is still excellent.
Casino Royale brings back to life the best of the spy franchises in my opinion. It reintroduces the character to a completely new set of fans, while keeping the same man, the same person alive to the older fans. We knew who Bond was; the new fan had to be shown who he was and what made him the way he way.
This introduction also gave the older fan the same keys to the Bond persona. Now we know what drives him, what makes him "Bond".
Admittedly, this is the best-written Bond movie in years, especially with the education on how Bond came to have some of his 'rougher edges' smoothed out. And he is 'Rough' here, let me tell you. The killings are a lot dirtier then they have been in the past and there is even an aftermath that I think stinks of the new Political Awareness in the world.
The rules that say, "The Good Guys Can't Do This But The Bad Guys Can" sort of crap that goes on in all types of war all the time.
Casino Royale proves that James Bond is back and is still the "Go To" guy for manliness. He is our icon, the guy most men model themselves after. We might be overweight, wear frumpy suits, drive a ten year old Dodge and need corrective lenses, but it is still James Bond we think we are most like.
Daniel Craig has proven that Bond is still needed; and that he is still worthy of our devotion. This film proves that Bond is not just a 'Cold War' fighter, but that the can also help defend the world against terrorism.
Somehow, I feel safer knowing that there really are men and women doing this job

A bit of trivia, the site used as the construction site in Madagascar was actually in the Bahamas at an abandoned hotel site that was under construction over 40 years ago. In fact, it was used as a location for the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball.
In addition, the 1964 Aston Martin used in Casino Royale is the same one used in Goldfinger.