Bond Begins with the Best Film of 2006

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2006)

If you take Casino Royale out of the context of being a Bond Film and examine it as a stand alone, action-adventure come thriller then you really begin to understand the true brilliance of this film. I've always enjoyed the Bond franchise, although I wouldn't say I was a big fan, more of a casual viewer.
Now, back to the movie. Daniel Craig is a fine actor and his scenes with Eva Green are electric, the dialogue is sharp and witty and the two actors clearly have a lot of chemistry. The first action sequence lasts for about ten minutes and its absolutely fantastic, there is a real sense of speed and danger; Bond bleeds like the rest of us, he is not a superhero in the traditional sense, just a man driven by demons and desires that are revealed later on.
Craig is truly IAN FLEMING'S 007 in a way that all the others (including Connery) were not. Craig is detached, brutal, efficient, dark, cold and above all else; human.
The second action sequence at Miami Airport is OK but I was starting to worry at this point whether the film was going to be a continuous carousel of carnage, rather than an efficient noir thriller. But my worries were elevated when post-Miami airport, Eva Green steps on the scene as the smart and sassy Vesper Lynd.
At the heart Casino Royale are two outstanding central performances from Eva Green and Daniel Craig, they make the dialogue work in a way that lesser actors (Halle Berry and Pierce Brosnan for example) could not. Martin Campbell saved the Bond Franchise in 1995 with Goldeneye and he has revitalised it for the 21st century with a stunning piece of direction, proving that he is an excellent all rounder with an eye for action and the good sense to be conspicuous when the material demands it.
There are flaws in Casino Royale, the rampant product placement for Ford, Jaguar, Omega, Ted Baker, Virgin Airlines and a dozen other companies does distract from the film for those of us who cant help but notice it. Also the incredibly-difficult-to-make-entertaining central card game does drag on a bit, although Campbell deserves a Knighthood, Oscar and a Congressional Medal of Honour for making it almost work by punctuating it with action sequences, one of which is an extremely violent fight in a stairwell that doesn't belong in a 12A movie.
That brings us neatly to the torture sequence which is lifted straight from the Ian Fleming novel. There is some fine acting by Craig again in this scene, more so than in any other part of the movie. Its brutal but also, rather perversely, gives the film its biggest laugh out loud moment, "the whole world will know you died scratching my balls".
The movie hits another rough patch with the post-torture romance scenes that follow. Again, this is lifted straight from the book and although for viewers with a short attention span it may drag on, I found them as enjoyable as any of the big explosions and fisticuffs.
The finale packs an emotional punch, again solely down to Eva and Daniel and the fact that we actually believe in their relationship and have invested some emotion in it. Its a relationship that can save Bond from a life of vodka martinis, easy lays and silenced Walther PPK's. But it just wasn't to be, and when the finale finally arrives we see the real James Bond for the very first time.
Now, I know a lot of people will accuse Casino Royale of being populist nonsense, or just another Bond film, but those same people probably think that the more boring and obscure a film is, the more intelligent it makes them for bothering to watch it (Ingar Bergman fans go wild!).
For me, Bond Begins is the best movie of the year. I loved every minute of this confident piece of escapist entertainment and I will be buying the DVD as soon as it becomes available.