A new Bond for a new age

Rating: 8/10 (13 May 2007)

After the derivative mess that was "Die Another Day", whoever runs the Bond movie franchise decided to start over from scratch. For the most part they succeed.
Although you can't go too deeply into Bond's character by the nature of this story, "Casino Royale" gives an idea of who Bond is and why he acts the way he does. They turn his character inside out. Instead of a aesthete who's learned to be an ass-kicker, he's now an ass-kicker who's learned to be an aesthete. This adds an element of class-conflict to his character: Bond wasn't born to the elegant world he inhabits, and he resents it when people notice.
This dichotomy is reflected in the film itself. The beautiful locations where tuxedo-clad men playing poker for millions of dollars is just the surface. There's always potential violence lurking just beneath. Bond barely survives being poisoned and a battle with African guerrillas, then pulls himself together and goes back for another round of cards like nothing happened. To survive in that kind of world, you have to disconnect from yourself.
This was directed by the guy who also directed "Goldeneye", the best of the Brosnan-era films. There's some nice innovations to the Bond formula. Instead of the Q-gives-Bond-his-gadgets scene, there's now a whole team of wonks and techies back at HQ supporting him. Instead of sailing off into the sunset with the Bond girl, the film ends with Bond capturing the guy who's at the top of the terror-money food chain. It adds an exciting degree of unpredictability.
If they can keep this up, this franchise has life in it yet.