One More Franchise Rescued By The Reboot

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2006)

With the recent success of Batman Begins and Superman Returns, Hollywood is quickly learning that the blunders it's made over the past decade or so with established franchises can in fact be remedied or buried by rebooting a series from scratch (or in the case of Superman, its last well respected installment). By placing a talented visionary in the director's chair, casting for the role as opposed to slapping a big name onto a poster, substituting the work of computers for the work of real stunt-men (minimizing CGI), and placing a greater focus on character development and story rather than mindless action, production companies are fast learning that if they get back to basics and focus on making movies over money, (or at least making movies in addition to money) the theaters will fill themselves.
Casino Royale is further proof that reboots of franchises work when done properly. This is a darker, grittier and more "real" Bond than any of us have ever seen and I flat out loved it. Sure it had it's flaws, but director Martin Cambell pulled out all the stops here and reminded us why folks often refer to Goldeneye (which he also directed) as the best of the Brosnan Bonds. From the opening parkour/free running scene, to the gritty hand to hand combat, this was Bond exactly how I've always wanted to see him on the big screen.
Anyone who's still whining about Daniel Craig being cast as Bond is either in denial or hasn't seen the film yet. In terms of getting the right guy to play 007, so he might not have looked the part at first, but he sure as hell acted the part on screen. With the studio deciding to take the 007 franchise down a more sophisticated and less campy path, Craig fits the part like a glove. Once you get a sense of where they're taking Bond you think to yourself "now I get it. Now I get why they cast him."
The film itself definitely takes a few cues from the popular Jason Bourne trilogy and you can tell someone did their homework on recent spy films. With Casino Royale the man comes first, the gadgets come second (or almost not at all in the case of this film). Die Another Day this most certainly is not. I liked how they chose not to include Q or Moneypenny (although I hope to see them both in future installments) and focus on Bond for this film as it's 007's first mission and I felt that we should be introduced to him as if we've never met the character before since this installment differed so greatly from previous installments. Keeping Judi Dench on as M however was a nice touch and she definitely added some very humorous but not overly campy comic relief. "Christ I miss the Cold War." It's clever one liners like these that made the franchise memorable as opposed to cringe inducing clichÃ©s like "I thought Christmas only came once a year" - The World is Not Enough.
As a whole this film is almost perfect, however it falls flat somewhere near the middle before it picks itself up again. Yes there are some tense moments during the poker game but damn I didn't know the game itself would comprise some 30-40 minutes of the film. I'd have much preferred if Bond made better use of his stunning Aston Martin DBS rather than rolling it some 2 minutes after he hopped in to run down Le Chiffre. Taking 5 minutes out of the poker game in exchange for 5 more minutes with the DBS wouldn't have hurt the film in my opinion. Add to that the fact that Cambell decided to develop the romance between Bond and Vesper shortly after the poker game, and it adds to the feeling of the film being a bit drawn out. Luckily we're pushed back into our seats with a stunning finale and an excellent closing that has us wanting more in the way of a Bond 22 with Craig returning as Bond.
In the end the small issue with the pacing doesn't compare to everything they've finally got right. Someone like James Bond should be able to keep you on your toes and let's just say there were a few occasions when I found myself thinking "boy I didn't see that coming." From the opening black and white scenes, to the cool implementation of Bond firing toward the gun barrel cam, the witty dialogue, the excellent action choreography and the clever plot twists that keep you guessing until the end, it all fits. Casino Royale is the anti-Die Another Day and I loved every minute of it. Daniel Craig is the new James Bond and he has proved that he is more than worthy and ready to wear the number 007. Bring on 22. 9.5/10