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Casino Royale Review *No Spoilers*

Please note, i have not included anything you couldn't possibly learn from either the trailer or some of the many articles written about the film. If you wish to learn absolutely nothing about this film, stop reading now.

Those still reading, id like to give you my review of one of the most anticipated films of this year. For those wondering, i saw the film last night as a print test just hours after its premiere (they do this with all films to make sure the quality is up to standard for public screenings).

Background
Casino Royale (2006), not to be mistaken with Casino Royale (1967) is the latest in the line of Bond films. As many of you may or may not know it stars Daniel Craig, best known for his lead in Layer Cake and supporting role in Munich.

Much controversy surrounded his appointment as the suave MI6 agent. Most of this surrounded the fact he did not look like bond as described in the books, nor was he a particularly famous actor in film circles.

The film itself is a prequel to all the other Bond films, and starts with him earning his double 0 status. It is also well known that it includes a 'high stakes poker game' as one of the plot points in the film - for those wondering, in the original novels it is Baccarat which Bond played, and the inclusion of a NL holdem game is clears signs of changing times for bond, and the mainstream acceptance of poker.

The Cast

Ok, lets get this out of the way now. I am a fan of Daniel Craig, and i think he is an exceptional Bond. Whereas other Bonds have been camp and cheesy, this is dark, fresh and exactly how Ian Fleming wanted Bond to be. All the people who i watched this film with either liked or didnt dislike him as Bond. You can please everyone, but it appears the pick of Daniel Craig will displease only the die hard internet crowd who will refuse to change their stance.

Eva Green, as Vesper Lynd, is a damn fine Bond girl. She and her character is everything a Bond girl should be - beautiful, witty, intelligent and more than capable of helping Bond where needed. But at the same time there are several scenes which develop the Vesper Lynd character into a rounded person, rather than a hot girl in a bikini.

Dame Judi Dench, as M. What can be said about M which hasnt already? Well, a lot actually. The M character for the first time is shown outside of the 'office' and as cold and heartless as M is required to be to do her job, she is shown to actually have a life out side of the service. Nothing more is required to say.

Mads Mikkelson, as the main bad guy Le Chiffre is a Danish actor who i hadnt heard of before this film, but put in a solid performance as a Bond baddie. This time the baddie wont be holding Bond over a shark pit, walking away and assuming he will die. Le Chiffre is shown as a man who enjoys control, a genius and chess prodigy who has a passion for poker. He is also shown to be a man who in many cases is a slave to circumstance. This is not Dr Evil - credibility in the foe is back once again.

Other characters of note include a return of Felix Leiter (who is now black) who delivers a rather nice one liner and turns out to be integral to the story, whilst saying and doing virtually nothing. Also, note the lack of Q and Q section. The Aston DBS is here, but no one is there to show Bond around the gadgets, of which there is basically none. The Omega watch doesnt have a super magnet or a laser, the car doesnt turn invisible, go underwater or fire rockets. It simply drives.

Oh, and my personal favourite character makes a brief cameo - the 1964 Aston Martin DB5. The Bond car of Bond cars.

General

There is something Bond lacked in the last few films, and that is credibility. He had a gadget for everything, he saved the day without crumpling his dinner jacket and was an exceptional shot, sword/knife fighter and delivered one liners which were outdated.

The one liners have improved. There are so many, and quoting one would be pointless as its all in the delivery. Casino Royale may be billed as the darkest bond ever, but that doesnt mean you wont get a laugh and a smile along the way.

Bond is still (well, becomes) a double 0, so he is well trained as a marksman and in hand to hand combat. But its just so well done. In the fights, you know he will win, but there are moments where he almost doesnt. In the past it always seemed so easy, but in this film he has to actually fight for his life, and in several points he only just manages to win. Realism is a big bonus for me. As was said in the trailer, you need to have two kills to get your double 0 status - both are briefly shown in the film. But what this basically shows is he is a killer who is improving in technique and ability. By the end of the film he is well practiced.

The film also has a really inventive form of torture. Not advanced, but pretty much everyone watching could empathise with the pain shown on the screen. Ill let you wait till you see it on screen and not give anything away.

One negative point id make, is i disliked the Bond theme song. Others liked it. It is an acquired taste. If only they got Shirly in for another Bond outing.

The final major point to make is a Bond is not a Bond without at least one action scene which is highly memorable. This film has possibly the greatest set piece scenes of any Bond, if not any film. It is generally shown in the trailer, but ill give a brief outline of what is in the scene in white below anyway.

<font color="white">Basically, the whole scene is based around Bond chasing down a target who is a free-runner (ie, he jumps up, down and over things, and is rather good at climbing). At its highest point (again, in the trailer) there are atop a massive crane in a construction site. There is one panning shot where it goes over the top of the actors and crane, and i was genuinely feeling quite acrophobic as i watched on.</font>

The Poker

This was fairly bad. In fact im sure if you were to put a couple of the hands onto the high stakes NL HE forum here they would be considered either very situational or just bad. Again, without spoilers its hard to give anything away, but its pretty obvious they didnt spend much time considering this major scene in the film.

There was also a smaller poker scene right near the start, and im absoutely sure the hand was butchered beyond all recognition. This has no bearing on the plot, but basicly the main bad guy reads one of the other players for having a straight draw on the turn, tells him "i have two pair, and you have a 17.5% chance of making your straight" and pushes all in (possibly before his little speech. If he has the two pair, he is basicly limiting any chance of winning more out of his opponant, and if he is bluffing he is telling him "i dont want to win any more chips from you". This basicly shows whoever wrote the poker bits, or consulted on them, either didnt write it for people who knew how to play, or didnt spend enough time thinking through the logic of the hands.

The final hand is obviously between Bond and the main bad guy. It doenst take a genius to work out that is how it is always going to end up (as they are 'obiously' the best players in the game). Im pretty sure the hand is played wrong here.

Btw, Felix is in the main poker game, as a way of introducing the character and the interests of uncle sam. From best i can tell he was a pretty aweful player, certainly not good enough to be in that game. Obviously it wouldnt help the plot of the film, but there is no way the US couldnt get someone a bit more competant to represent their interests.

Anyway, that is my opinion as a poker player. Many other people who watched it with me and didnt play poker simply thought the scene dragged on, and in general i agree. Before I saw the film, i knew the poker scene would either be bad, or simply out of place. It was in my opinion.

Verdict

This has put to bed the shambles that was Die Another Day - not the worst film ever, but it was a generic action film pretending to be a Bond film. I died a little inside when i watched it.

Casino Royale on the other hand made me want to join up to MI6 (for those interested, they are currently having a recruitment drive to coincide with the films release). I realised im over weight and not charming. This is my favorite Bond for a long time and it has revitalised the genre in the same way Batman Begins revitalised the Batman character and brought credibility back to the films.

As i ahve said, i disliked the poker in the movie. But not so much that it made me dislike anything else in the film. The scene could have been better, but this is Casino Royale, not Rounders. And its generally well known how bad Rounders was for its poker accuracy.

Will Daniel Craig be the favourite Bond ever? Time will tell. He is signed to the usual 3 film contract and the second film, Bond 22, is already in pre production. Bond 22 is sort of introduced at the end of Casino Royale. Its hard to explain without giving away plot points, but it basically shows where the starting point is for Bond 22.

Bond is back, and Bond is dark.

Out of 100 i rate this film to be 94. This is my favourite film of 2006 by a fair margin and im looking forward till the next Bond film.