Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006) Review

Well, that's enough of Pierce Brosnan I think. It's time for a new Bond! How about Daniel Craig? No? WELL TOO BAD! Right off the bat I noticed something wrong...this is a prequel. I don't accept it as one and will therefore not approach this review thinking it's one. This is a continuation...YES IT IS! Anyway, let's see how well a new Bond works in this next film!

James Bond (Daniel Craig) is sent to investigate a criminal banker named Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). Le Chiffre is trying to win back his money in a poker game in Montenegro and M (Judi Dench) sends Bond and Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) to win the game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. Le Chiffre has some dangerous connections so if Bond and Vesper, they could wind up dead. It's a dangerous game that Bond has got himself into.

I was very sceptical of Craig playing Bond but he actually pulled it off very well. Clearly he was inspired by Timothy Dalton as his films have a more action orientated approach to things. Despite his, the best scenes in this film are actually the poker game scenes that frame the story. The whole story centres around it and everything else that happens is in between games. I love the structued narrative of this film. It's great! Vesper is also one of the best Bond girls yet and Le Chiffre is very threatening. There is a lot of good things in this one.

The action is some of the best in the series, which is what you expect from a more recent film. The early scene where Bond chases that guy on the cranes is great! I felt a bit copped out though that there wasn't an epic finale fight with the villain that previous Bond films have done. They were always by favourite scenes. For that, it misses out on being the best. Goldeneye's finale was arguably the best scene in the film so it's sad that Casino Royale did not have it. Also, where are Q and Moneypenny. Don't give me the whole 'it's a prequel' crap. Why is M a woman then since it's implied she's the first female M in the MI6 in Goldeneye. Also in Skyfall, Q says he's Bond's 'new' quartermaster...anway, I'm not letting that sour this film.

Casino Royale is the best Bond film since Goldeneye. Daniel Craig is a good choice for a modern Bond, the action is top notch, the new characters are really good and this film really is one of the best. I was very sceptical but it's good to be wrong sometimes. The ending is great, by the way and it's one of the only Bond films which carries on (Diamonds are Forever carries on from On Her Majesty's Secret Service...sort of).

Verdict:
9/10
A fantastic Bond film. The action is amazing, the new Bond is awesome and everything just comes together as awesome...er!