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James Bond: Casino Royale by Benjamin Donne
After watching Quantum of Solace, I thought I would rake through my DVD collection and give ‘Casino Royal’ another watch.
It was released 14th November 2006, making £13.4 million on its opening weekend. The film is the 21st in the Bond series and focuses on James Bond before he was given his 00 status.
I have to say, ‘Die Another Day’ was the film where I almost lost hope in the James Bond franchise… There will always be an element of a film that people will question. In die another day there were too many. I always loved the James Bond franchise because it had moments of genius, they were far beyond watchable - they were must sees. But when a laser – controlled by a man wearing a big metal suit - threatening to destroy the world, a hotel made purely of ice and a invisible car are in the same film, I have to draw the line.
There was a lot of pressure on Casino Royal to deliver what many people have been waiting for from a Bond film...
The film had so much hype around it I didn’t want to be a writer who just raved about it on the opening day. If I'm honest, I didn’t really want to review this film, but all I can say is, I was pleasantly pleased.
Martin Campbell seems to have changed the outlook on James Bond, steering it away from gadgets and focused it more on the man himself and the people surrounding him. Daniel Craig needed to give the Bond series a blast of fresh air which was, in my opinion, badly diminished by the Pierce Brosnan era. The film takes a totally new angle, it steps away from the normal shaken-not-stirred Bond and takes it to another level, which is perfectly displayed in the film when a ‘miffed’ off Daniel Craig responds, "Do I look like I care?" when asked how he would like his drink.
Casino Royal is more about the action than it ever was in Campbell’s ‘Goldeneye’ or even Lee Tamahori ‘Die Another Day’. It contains a lot more violence and is aimed at a more mature audience, which - for me - gave this film something that the other Bond films didn’t have… Proper violence.
The opening scene sets a very high standard for this film, it visually amazing. And the editing is sublime. As soon as you watch the opening scene of this movie you know that is it not like the other Bond movies. It has pure action - The kind that gets you jumping when Bond jumps and screaming at the TV when he nearly falls. The pure contrast between Bond and his counterpart sets him into a different league.
You know from the beginning that this film is going to be filled with action. But it also delivers on the character development side of it as well. With a new Bond we need to see what makes him happy and what really annoys him. That’s what this film does; Bond somehow feels a lot more… human now. He has always been witty, but has never truly upset or happy.
In ‘Casino Royal’, we see a more relatable Bond, we know how he feels and we can understand it. We see Bond as a more of a rebel among the MI6 instead as the perfect agent we have seen in the past films.
This time James Bond isn’t about saving the world, it’s based on a topical issue, which is essentially – terrorism. The thing that makes Casino Royal stand out is that the main event isn’t a massive shoot out… it is instead a poker game, that Bond was more of a last resort to be picked for, in the words of Q ‘I didn’t want to pick you, but from what I hear your one of the best’. But don’t make the assumption that it is a bad thing, it’s far from it – the poker scene is filled with cleverly crafted tension and subtle action. I would have thought it impossible that a scene could deliver so much from just a few camera angles and a poker table, but the film would not be half as good if this scene wasn’t included.
Casino Royale builds up to action nearly as good as the newly released ‘Batman: The Dark Knight’, it goes from peak to trough countless times in the film and they leave me sitting in my seat and staring at the screen, I actually feel scared to look away, as I feel if I miss one part, I may loose something essential.
All I can say is that this film delivers, on many levels, the hard core Bond fans might not like it but this film has turned a lot more into ‘Bondies’. For me I always loved Bond films, but the last 2 or 3 lost something that I always loved, I therefore started looking other places to find it, I stumbled upon Batman and other films in the genre, but none of them gave me the satisfaction that I had after I watched a good Bond film. I therefore ‘bit the bullet’ and went to see ‘Casino Royale’ and I realized once I finished watching it that this is the Bond I want to see, him and the basics. He’s not surrounded by people who help him and gadgets that save his life (ok the defibrillator is an exception…). It’s about Bond himself.
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