James Bond

Rating: 9/10 (2 December 2006)

This last month the cinema world saw the return of Britain's best loved secret agent. Returning in his twenty-first adventure the spy was sporting a different look to his previous escapades. Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Road to Perdition) stars in his first James Bond film playing the leading role. One noticeable difference is the different coloured hair to that of previous actors who under took the role. This was not the only 'first' for the film as this is a film adaptation of the first James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming in 1953 and is the last of the original novels to be made into a film. Many Bond fans have questioned the decision to make the first novel into a film last, however, this is not the first time the books have been taken out of order. 'Live and let Die' (1954) was the second book in the Bond adventures yet it was the seventh one to be made into a film. Eva Green (Kingdom of Heaven) also stars as the new Bond girl, Vesper Lynd, who undoubtedly catches the attention of the great British spy, but is she all that she appears to be?
The fact that the book came first in the series was always going to be a problem for the film directors as the book contains the pivotal moment when James Bond is awarded '00' status. Dirctor Martin Campbell (GoldenEye) tries to get around this contentious issue by shooting the moment in black and white, giving the impression that it was a memory of the incident rather that it being shown as happening in the present day. This is counteracted, however, later on in the film when M (Judi Dench) mentions that she had just promoted Bond. This occurs just after Bond had blown up an international embassy.
The film centres around the actions of a banker called Le Chiffre who uses his client's money to buy shares in the stock market. His actions come to the attention of MI6 when a terrorist plot is linked with him. I turns out he had been trying to manipulate the stock market in an attempt to make large returns on his clients investments. However, Bond manages to halt the attack causing Le Chiffre to lose all of his client's money. This quite naturally makes him a wanted man. Bond's mission in this film is to give Le Chiffre no option but to seek shelter from the British government in return for information on terrorist groups. I emerges that Le Chiffre intends to make the money back through a poker game at Casino Royale. Bond enters the game with the aim of beating Le Chiffre so he has to take the shelter under the British government. Eventually the best poker player in the British secret service wins the game. However all does not go to plan as he soon finds himself a captive in Le Chiffre's hands. As the end seems near for our hero Le Chiffre's overplays his hand so to speak as he is found by one of his clients who shoots the banker with a second thought. The film then continues as we begin to think Bond may have found love again, the last time being in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. However, yet again things do not work out for the spy as we learn that Vesper has ulterior motives. This film is different to the majority of previous bond films, even to Campbell's other Bond film GoldenEye (1995). This film has no large explosions or gun fights that have become synonymous with the Bond franchise. When compared to the likes of 'GoldenEye' or 'License to Kill' (1989) the levels of action are alarmingly low. There is no big action point in the movie where our hero battles against the odds like there have been in the past. And yet that has not lowered the interest in the film with it making over $200 million already with it still to be released in just over twenty countries.
Overall, the film is different to the majority of Bond films. The lack of action, however, highlights Craig's and Green's ability as actors as they kept you intrigued throughout the film. It is a great film and a must for any movie-goer, Bond fan or not.