Casino Royale
To see a gallery of stills from the movie click here
Intro:
Top notch acting, high octane action; fast paced, well choreographed, and exciting as all hell!
This is ‘Casino Royale’ and we’re just getting started.
Daniel Craig gives hands-down one of the best performances of his career – bursting into this role with a truly awe inspiring amount of vigor and energy. The physicality brought to the screen by this man is epic. It’s easy to feel elated watching these meticulously planned stunts take place, and Daniel Craig really delivers on the goods. He brings a compassionless and cold demeanor to Bond that ensures you are well aware – this movie offers a wholly different 007 then what’s been seen in the past.
In simpler terms, Daniel Craig’s first outing as Bond is a spectacular one!
In fact, there are those that would call this the best James Bond film of all time.
However, I am not one of them.
But I do rank it high on my list: number three.
I weighed heavily whether or not it would be first, or second, but came to the decision, (after much fretting and deliberation) that it’s a shoe-in for third place. ‘Casino Royale’ is a soft-reboot (or departure) from 007 films of the past, that tended to involve more humour and over-the-top action. Hell, in the seventies and eighties the franchise became a near-parody of itself – which may have indirectly led to the popularity of the ‘Austin Powers’ series (and that could be an article entirely on its own). This is the period that’s known colloquially as the ‘Roger Moore era’ – due to Moore being the actor that portrayed the titualr character from 1973 to 1985.
But right now we’re here to talk about James Bond.
So why didn’t Casino Royale snag a spot higher than third place on my list?
Quite simply, its tone is too serious.
Where Bond films of the past may have strayed into areas that would be considered fantastical by some – a fantasy is exactly what Ian Fleming’s 007 novels were at their heart. The character James Bond was in large part a fictionalised account of Ian Fleming’s days in the British Spy Agency – MI6. Fleming worked mainly behind a desk, so the books he wrote were an aggrandized version of what his job actually was. Therefore, although the novels are a bit more serious in tone than some of the more campy entries in the motion picture adaptations, the source material isn’t quite as gritty or humourless as the Daniel Craig films.
It’s been said that ‘Casino Royale’ looks and feels more like a Jason Bourne film than anything else.
“I went and made ‘Bourne Identity’, and then after ‘The Bourne Identity’ came out, the next James Bond to come out was ‘Casino Royale’, which totally copied the tone of Bourne. I had a very surreal thing where I was sort of making Bourne because I really wanted to make Bond, and then Bond copied Bourne.” -Doug Liman director of ‘The Bourne Identitiy'[1]
“The screenplay for The Bourne Identity was written by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum. The film is known for its intense and realistic action sequences. The Bourne Identity is widely praised for its thrilling and believable action scenes, including the famous car chase through the streets of Paris.” [2]
Since ‘The Bourne Identity’ came out in 2002 – only four years before ‘Casino Royale’, this connectioin is not a huge stretch to make. And if I’m being completely truthful – as an avid fan of the Jason Bourne movies – I, myself noticed a lot of similarities between the two. This detracts a little from the quality of ‘Casino Royale’ seeing as it’s not so much an homage to the Bourne series as it copied what was popular at the time. Although it doesn’t detract from the overall quality much, the movie is rather derivative, despite the fact that it come off as a fresh take on the beleaguered character, when released.
So it’s a mixed bag – but all in all, ‘Casino Royale’ – still a kick-ass James Bond entry! One that managed to breathe new life into a franchise that dearly needed it.
Don’t you worry, we’re going get to ‘Die Another Day’ and ‘The World is Not Enough’ in good time… I’m saving those god awful movies for an article about the Five Worst James Bond Films.
Those last two Pierce Brosnan flicks almost ruined the good name of 007 forever.
Mind you ‘Goldeneye’, the first Bond outing starring Brosnan – is ranked as my No. 1 and also is generally adored by fans and critics, alike.
So make of that what you will.
Rating: 7.5/10
A martini, shaken – not stirred.
Sources:
[1] LandmarkCinemas.com
[2] 41 Facts About the Movie The Bourne Identity – By: Sheila Blackmon
https://facts.net/movie/41-facts-about-the-movie-the-bourne-identity/
[3] RAZZIE Voters ‘SWEPT AWAY’ by Madonna, Murphy, Britney, Benigni – And ‘STAR WARS’
https://web.archive.org/web/20130729084720/http://www.razzies.com/asp/content/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=110
