Casino Royale is rare in that it somewhat restarts the Bond series instead of picking up where the previous movie left off. The movie begins with the new face of Bond, Daniel Craig, earning his “00” status in a gruesome bathroom fight scene shot in grainy black-and-white. It exudes a retro spy movie look but it is also hands-down the grittiest and most violent scene to ever appear in a Bond flick. Instantly, we see Bond as a cold and calculated killer, devoid of the uptown elegance that usually trails his more morbid deeds.
We’re then taken to a classic James Bond extended chase scene. Bond chases a bomb maker up a precariously tall construction site, then onto a crane, and so on, with amazing stunts in almost every shot. Although the scene is enjoyable, thankfully it is the only one like it in the movie. The remainder of the movie is much more grounded in reality, a treat considering that the previous Bond movie had a car so ridiculous that it was invisible and could drive up the side of ice walls.
The beginning of the movie has an interesting style, in that Bond is never really given a mission with objectives and a time frame. The plot of the movie is revealed to the audience with as little warning as Bond gets. This makes it somewhat difficult to follow, adding mystery and intrigue to the film, rather than distracting from it. The plot falls into place quickly enough and we can focus on Daniel Craig shining as the new 007.
Another new addition to the Bond series is that of characters with emotional depth. For the first time, we see Bond as more than a two-dimensional witty British spy. We learn of how his troubled past as an orphan prepared him for the gruesome and selfless work required of a secret agent. We see him “without any armor,” as he puts it in the film.
For the first time, we also see Bond make a real emotional connection with the “Bond girl,” played by Eva Green. She too comes from an orphaned past and spars with the opposite sex using her sharp, sarcastic wit and good looks.
I also really liked that Bond’s nemesis in the movie, LeChiffre, is not a crazed madman bent on world domination or the destruction of a country, but is instead a simple terrorist-financing kingpin. This grounds the villain in reality more than is usually seen in typical Bond movies, making it much more realistic and believable to the audience.
In my opinion, this is the best 007 movie to come out since Goldfinger in 1964. It is easily better than any of the Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, or Pierce Brosnan 007 movies. The only Bond movie that comes close to being this good in recent memory is 1995’s Goldeneye, which was, coincidentally, directed by Martin Campbell, the director of Casino Royale.
While I liked Pierce Brosnan as 007, I think that handing the legacy over to Daniel Craig was the right move. Brosnan could never have shown the emotional range that Craig displays in Casino Royale without having to reinvent the character as they do here.
The series has basically been reworked from the bottom up, converting Bond from a rusting Cold War relic into a modern-day spy—ruthless, intelligent, and most importantly, human. Gadgets and stunts are downplayed, Miss Moneypenny and Q are absent, and Craig is dynamic, exciting, funny, and in my opinion, the perfect man for the 007 role.
Casino Royale is an amazing movie, even ignoring the fact that it is the 21st in the Bond series. I can’t remember the last time I liked an action movie this much and I also can’t remember ever wanting to own a Bond movie before seeing Casino Royale. I highly recommend it to fans of 007 movies or anyone who is up for a thrilling and deep action movie. I know that I’m going to see it again soon.
