Craig and Green excel in a well directed series of exciting set pieces, even if the film feels very long

Rating: 7/10 (30 October 2015)

My biggest guilty pleasure movie is Die Another Day and I'll always be a Pierce Brosnan apologist, so the fact that hatred of that movie and love of this movie are always mentioned in the same breath led to a lot of resentment on my part. However, I can no longer sustain my belief that this is a bad movie because whilst I don't particularly love it, I cannot deny that its powerful and quality filmmaking.
Daniel Craig is ace as Bond. The tone of Casino Royale right from the starting sequence is of a slightly brutish assassin, more in the vein of a Bond henchman than a 00 agent. We can see it in every movement and action - there's no class, just pure effective action. All throughout the film Campbell and Craig select the perfect course of action for this character. He's got touches of class, but he doesn't wear a mask of polite detachment, he gets flustered and angry. He can hold his own in a fight, but he is never fully outclassed nor does he feel like a superhero. The character created on screen is just right for this movie.
In the supporting cast, Eva Green and Mads Mikkelsen stand out as the best Bond girl and Bond villain ever put to screen. Vesper Lynd is a human being, not a walking vagina called "Juicy Wigglewiggle" or something appropriately stupid. Green has absolutely terrific chemistry with Craig, both in banter, in love and in dramatic moments. A gorgeously crafted scene where a vulnerable Lynd clings to Bond in the shower is worth watching of itself. Compared with Solange, Casino Royale's other Bond girl who almost has a big sign saying "PLEASE HAVE SEX WITH ME", Vesper really does stand out. It should be noted however that Campbell and the screenwriters don't have Bond actually sleep with Solange, he just seduces her, solicits information and gets back to the job. Its moments like this that show that Bond is moving away from porny predecessors. Mikkelson is also a breath of fresh air, as more of a Bond adversary than a Bond villain. There's no satellite lasers or preplanned Skyfall chase nonsense, there's just a terrorist financer who they need to bankrupt. He still has the quirks of a great villain - the bleeding eye, the nervous ticks - but he doesn't stroke a cat or anything like that. Judi Dench is also delightfully sharp as M, and her mother-son dynamic with Bond is really very nice, particularly during the last scene in which she counsels him.
The set pieces in this film are astounding - a record breaking car flip, a breathtaking parkour chase, a staircase fight, a dash for the defibrillator, a chase in the airport, a sinking building - there's just too many to love. Campbell really excels at each, but his best scenes are ones involving mindgames between Le Chiffre and Bond, particularly an iconic scene where a naked Bond is tortured by Le Chiffre. Bond's vulnerability is what makes Casino Royale so gripping, unlike previous instalments where he's been barely fazed by any of his adversaries.
My biggest problem with Casino Royale is is enormous length. There are three distinct stories here - the villain only matters in one, the Bond girl in two. All of them are fine, but I found that the film dragged in places and it is very hard to sit through the whole thing. Casino Royale feels more like a trilogy of short films than a single story. For some other problems, I also found some of the character choices towards the end to be questionable and there were far too many betrayals and layers. My biggest pet peeve was Mathis' habit of explaining to Vesper what was happening in the game we were watching, it was extremely irritating and it broke the tension that Campbell, Mikkelsen and Craig were creating.
I never really liked Bond that much as a franchise, but Casino Royale is a good film and I'll give it credit for that. Its just not something I'll rush out and watch at any opportunity.