Casino Royale (2006) ***1/2

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2006)

All good things must comes to an end, and after the formulaic DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002) went through its usual motions it was evident that the long-running James Bond series had become a caricature of itself and hardly seemed fresh or cutting edge after forty years and 20 films. So Eon Productions took a major gamble in starting from square one with a different-looking blond actor, Daniel Craig, to play a new type of 007. The results are outstanding.
Beginning as though there never was a previous James Bond in existence, Craig here is on his first mission as he plays a multi-million dollar game of "Texas Hold Em" poker against the villainous Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) to put this friend of terrorists out of operation. Along the way there aren't any of those overblown comic book gadgets, so instead we have Bond slugging it out with thugs, and uncharacteristically doing a lot of physical running and lunging in order to take on the bad guys. Daniel Craig immediately slips into the James Bond persona like a comfortable pair of shoes, but at the same time completely makes the character his own type of secret agent; complicated and hard-edged, fresh and hungry for confrontation, and yet occasionally soft-hearted. Though the film is the longest Bond to date (2 hours and 24 minutes) the movie doesn't "feel" long, as there are just the right amounts of action, talk, banter, suspense, and then more action to keep things nicely balanced. Oh, and there are plenty of surprises too.
Bond gets his best leading lady in many years with Eva Green as Vesper Lynd. She is the perfect companion for 007 to become involved with, and they undergo a professional and private relationship that rivals all others in this series. At first I was a bit taken aback, however, by seeing Judi Dench returning as "M" in this rebooted franchise. While I've always enjoyed her very much in the last four Pierce Brosnan entries, it's a bit of a strange mixing of two separate universes to have her associating with this new Craig Bond, as though she's stumbled onto the wrong set in the wrong timeline. All the same, Ms. Dench is very good as Bond's frazzled superior who frequently must put him in his place.
The initial reaction to CASINO ROYALE has been largely positive, and that's a great sign. I've always enjoyed the other installments in this saga, but have to concede it was indeed high time for some sort of re-vamping. Daniel Craig is a tough and exciting new James Bond, and it's my hope that this series may continue and remain its own entity apart from the original lineup of Bond films. All those going in to this film should try to wipe the old slate fresh and clean from their minds and approach this movie as a whole new start on its own terms. It will be very rewarding. ***1/2 out of ****