Glad to have you back Mr Bond.

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2007)

After a depressingly long gap of four years which has seen countless rumour and the departure of my personal favourite Bond, Pierce Brosnan, the Eon series returns with what may be one of the finest films yet in the Bond cannon. Of course what makes this such a fantastic film is not just the usual refinements (to quote, although in this case absent, Q) such as action and spectacle, but is the risk that the filmmakers take with this, the twenty first Bond epic. The most popular leading man, at least commercially speaking, that the series has had is gone, as our some of the usual trademarks. The gunbarrell doesn't open the film outright as it does the title sequence, the latter of which does not feature naked ladies for the first time in history from what I recollect, although Daniel Kleinman, the titles designer since Goldeneye, still does a great job with the card motif, there is little in the way of hardware and gadgets and we have a blonde Bond, as many other reviewers are keen to point out.
The portrayal of Bond in this film is of the utmost importance and Daniel Craig is superb throughout, mainly because the script is not a collection of action sequences with a basic story of world domination centred around it. What we have here is a three dimensional Bond, a man who hurts, feels pain, falls in love and has his heart destroyed by betrayal and death and must learn that in order to survive in this world that he has been 'promoted' to, he must trust no one. Throughout the arc that Bond goes through in Casino Royale Craig is superb. A decent actor in his own right (see Road to Perdition and Layer Cake for more), it seems that by betting an actor of this calibre, writers Purvis and Wade, along with Paul Haggis, have decided to put some meat to the bone and it works superbly. Yes he looks good in a tux, hell he looks good in an Hawaian shirt in the opening chase scene, but there is just as much substance to his portrayal of Bond and in a day and age where Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne (what is it with spies with the initials JB?) rule the roost in the genre, it's nice to see the character who started it all get something juicy to chew on.
Of course a Bond film is nothing without the best action sequences to fall back on too, and Casino Royale will not disappoint anyone craving a little adrenalin whilst watching Bond. The aforementioned chase sequence at the start featuring some of the craziest running stunts in recent years will leave you breathless, an attempted terror attack at Miami airport is superbly staged whilst the the sinking house in Vienna is one of the most stunning, not to mention vicious, action sequences the series has ever done. Speaking of vicious, one should be warned that this is a more harsher film than has been done before, with the violence being more along the lines of Licence to Kill rather than Die Another Day or Goldeneye. The fights are bloody and messy and the torture sequence involving a stripped and naked Bond being beaten by Le Chiffre ranks as one of the most shocking to have been passed with a 12 certificate that I can remember.
This is a great film is every aspect. As usual it is well made, with love and care from everyone, has heart as well as muscle and with the highest box office to date for a Bond film, should see the series continue for several years yet. Glad to have you back Mr Bond.