"The name is Bond...James Bond"

Rating: 8/10 (5 September 2007)

James Bond movies are not just about BondIt's Bond and the action, Bond and the fights, Bond and the cars, Bond and the Martinis, Bond and the villains Bond and the girls. "Casino Royale" has all this elements and uses them brilliantly and for that simple reason it is the best Bond movie I've seen in my life; considering I haven't watched all of them.
Maybe it was the fact that I truly detested Pierce Brosnan's arrogance, or that the action was too heavy, or that things didn't make much sense; but I just couldn't enjoy the last emissions of the saga. "Casino Royale", with its long duration and different settings, becomes thoroughly enjoyable. A big part of this result occurs because the action scenes are mostly short and exciting, until the last sequence, which is a satisfying climax that you can tolerate and appreciate.
I believe that "Die Another Day", for example, was too over the top in every element, but it's not difficult to notice the perfect balance here. Take the plot, with its simple development of a mission we don't have to analyze much, and wittily scripted love relationship, accurately managed by the leading stars. And I must say that it is a film with well-drawn patterns; the villain is a bad man with his beautiful woman and a huge boat sailing in the oceanTalk about good cliché usage.
And the technical work is masterful. The camera looks like taken from an old movie, with elegant and easy shots, so the film looks old and consequently everything does; the edition, the chilling score and the general mood that generates a contradiction, because the devices used by agents are as modern as ever but the environment is not.
However, the true magic lies in the agent himself: Bond. Director Martin Campbell understood his task and made "Casino Royale" so we could see that this was the beginning of his work as a double 0 agentHow does he do this? Details, for example: in persecuting a fast running man at the beginning of the film, Bond doesn't have the ability to jump from the highest roof without getting injured; so he uses what he has around him because he is intelligent, but when he does jump he gets hurt.
On another side, he makes such stupid mistakes due to his ego. But it is a human ego; and Daniel Craig's performance captures it in a breeze of fresh air that leave Pierce Brosnan's portrayals looking like something coming out of a perfect robot. The same goes for Eva Green, who manages her chemistry with Craig in order to look not just like the beautiful woman she is, but also as a human being capable of showing true love that refuses to be another disposable Bond element.
There's one scene where they both have a conversation in a train, analyzing each otherDid I enjoy that scene! I didn't enjoy some performances because they didn't convince me, but I smiled during the action sequences and during so many moments that I just stopped thinking about it. There's a new level of action films, prequels or eternal sequels or something like thatNolan's "Batman Begins", Stallone's "Rocky Balboa", Lee's "Inside Man", I heard the new "Die Hard" was goodWatch them all!