Movie Reviews
I�ll admit upfront that the opening thirty minutes of �Casino Royale� is as perfect as action movies can get. A subtly enticing opening sequence starts the film with a familiar �Bond� feel, although it�s not a vintage �Bond� opening. James Bond (Daniel Craig) is one kill shy � out of a three kill requirement � from being a double �O� agent. Whether or not that third kill is successful or not is pretty obvious, but it�s interesting to watch because it�s filmed in black-and-white.
Surging forward in its narrative, �Casino Royale� stands James Bond against Le Chiffre, a French profiteer who trades weapons with terrorists. When it comes to a certain deal gone awry, Le Chiffre is in desperate, timely need of money. And a lot of it.
It comes down to a high-stakes poker game at the prestigious Casino Royale between the world�s biggest bidders. High stakes, meaning millions of dollars are gained and lost at any moment of the game. Le Chiffre is on the list of names attending. So also must be James Bond. If Le Chiffre wins the money, he pays off his debtors and life goes on. If Bond wins, Le Chiffre is disposed of and...well, in that case, I guess life doesn�t go on.
�Casino Royale� has three rather distinct acts. Act one is not so much about introducing characters (we either already know them from other �Bond� films, or we�ll meet new characters much later) as it is about establishing how rough-and-tumble the film is going to be. Act two focuses on the poker game. And act three plays out like a well-planned card trick. Maybe too well-planned.
The writing is generally good. The script, originally penned by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, was given to Paul Haggis (Crash) for touch ups. I don�t know who is responsible for what as far as the writing goes, but the conglomeration of talent is seamless. The story is blended in such a way that characters introduced mid-movie feel like the missing piece to the plot.
Now to Daniel Craig. Every time a switch is made to the Bond character, there will always be some people who hate him and others who love him. Craig is a good Bond. He exudes the coolness and suaveness every James Bond requires, able to pull off a high variety of tricky stunt-filled scenes, like the one where Bond chases a man up a construction crane and through tall buildings. Or low-key wordless scenes, as in the moments after Bond�s lady sidekick, Vsper Lynd (Eva Green), witnesses Bond�s brutality first hand and is found soaked sitting on the shower floor. It is an interestingly touching moment.
There is, of course, a large twist that concludes the film. The minutes leading up to it are pretty dull, but to be fair, they�re dull for a reason. It�s a way of misdirection on behalf of director Martin Campbell, who tricks us into thinking the story is pretty much over.
But at the same time, I can�t dismiss the fact that dullness shouldn�t be evident in a �Bond� film. In this particular case, it makes �Casino Royale� too long. The flip side of that coin, however, shows that the film�s final moments would be less impressive without those slow-moving scenes as a precursor. It�s an interesting dilemma posed by the writers that is left partially unresolved by Campbell. Perhaps a director like Martin Scorsese or Mel Gibson would have the answer to the problem; both are inherently talented at pacing potentially dull subjects.
�Casino Royale� is surely a success in setting up its sequel. We�re left genuinely concerned about supporting characters whose stories were not cut and dried. Perhaps this is the beginning to a really exciting batch of �Bond� films in the next decade. ***