A review of one of the best Bond films and one of the best action films ever!

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2007)

Back in 2003, I was only thirteen. The newest Bond movie at the time was to be Pierce Brosnan's last; Die Another Day was the bestest movie ever in my mind, for the time, at least. It benefited from a second viewing, for any Bond fan would realize it's one of the five worst Bond movies ever. Look at me! I'm Halle Berry: I'm black, I have breastuses, and I am a bad actor in this film! The movie suffered from a ridiculous plot and the likes, and I can't blame Pierce for wanting out. Poor guy was getting' ugly anyway.
Now we have Casino Royale, based on Ian Flemings first Bond book, which just so happens to introduce the man we know so well today. So many fans over the last few months had been crying foul as to the producers decision to pick a rugged, gruff, and blonde actor named Daniel Craig. I can understand how this kinda messes with the formula of the franchise, but judging from his superb performance, it's a welcome departure. Get this folks: he can actually act! Casino Royale starts out right off the bat as different. Instead of a traditional opening sequence where James Bond flies a jet with one hand while having sex with a Russian model and shooting a sniper at a man in a wheelchair on the ground, the film starts in black-and-white. With contrasting shadows and deep camera angles, we learn that this is his first outing for MI6. A man who is obviously a bad guy walks into his office at night, and Bond is sitting there suddenly revealed in the dark. From there it cuts between the scene where he confronts this man and assassinates him with the cool, collective demeanor we've come to expect from this 00 agent, and a different scene shown at the same time where Bond is out of control, literally beating the living hell out of a man in public bathroom, brutally pommeling him with his fists and drowning him in the sink. With the entire pre-title sequence done in black-and-white and with a quiet intensity, the first five minutes bring to mind classic film-noir.
All of Casino Royale replaces regular action movie clichés with something better. Endless action replaced with raging fistfights of calculated fury; a gritty, out-of-control gas tanker chase scene at Miami Airport instead of fancy cars with missiles. There are so many other kickers, too: Bond doesn't yet know (or care) about the difference between "shaken or stirred"; he actually gets tortured by La Chiffre, the villain; Bond is sent to bring down the aforementioned terrorist financier by defeating him in a high-stakes poker game. Even the Bond girls are an extreme improvement over the last dozen or so. Both can act, both expose him more than usual, and he finally falls in love with one of them. By far, this is one of the best James Bond movies of all time.