A bright restart for Bond

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2016)

Directed by Martin Campbell and produced by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, it has script by Robert Wade, Neal Purvis and Paul Haggis. This is the twenty-first film of the franchise and the first film in the new era of James Bond, embodied by the participation of Daniel Craig, who succeeds Pierce Brosnan in the role of the famous 007. Judi Dench remained in the role of M, Jeffrey Wright resurrects the American spy Felix Leiter, Giancarlo Giannini gives life to Rene Mathis, Eva Green played the bond-girl Vesper and Mads Mikkelsen gave life to the villain, Le Chiffre.
In this film, a new James Bond, recently elevated to the status of 00 agent, will try to catch a gangland banker which helps fund arms dealers and terrorists around the world. For this, he will need to participate in a risky poker game, where the villain will seek to multiply his money.
This is one of the best Bond film's to date and marks the relaunch of the franchise, after the resounding failure of "Die Another Day". Daniel Craig is quite different from any other actor who played the role: hard, extremely violent, more a killer than a gentleman, he manage to updates his character to the new millennium. But this new approach doesn't merely update it, it also gave him more credibility and plausibility. In the public's mind, it's really possible that, if there are spies, they're similar to what Craig shows as Bond. And, like any human, Craig's Bond also fails, makes mistakes and is fallible. It's far from being a hero or a good guy. On the other hand, the villain, played by Mads Mikkelsen, is also credible and is not exaggerated by stereotypes of other villains. Discreet, quiet and, at the same time, cruel and relentless, Le Chiffre is played brilliantly by Mikkelsen, managing to pluck some shivers from our spine. Eva Green was also impeccable in the role of Vesper, a difficult and mysterious bond-girl, which perfectly combines beauty, seduction and mystery, becoming one of the most beautiful and mysterious bond-girls of the franchise. It was also the second woman to make Bond fall in love for real. The script have also fairly good aspects: the main theme, the financing of terrorism, which is very present today, or the chronological resumption of history, which allowed a more accurate approach to Fleming's book and a fresh look to the main character (in a break with previous films, particularly Brosnan's, who totally putted Fleming aside and created new scripts from scratch). Some scenes of this movie also became memorable, such as the climactic scene, in which Bond tries to save his beloved of a Venetian palace that sinks under their feet. The opening sequence of this film is, perhaps, one of the most striking ever. It was created by Daniel Kleinman and stands out for the use of pictures of playing cards, the lack of women's silhouettes (justified by Bond feel true love for Vesper) and "You Know My Name" song, composed and performed by Chris Cornell.