Casino Royale

[Bryan]

In the run up to Casino Royale, a few reviews of the film to tantalise your tastebuds...

The Mirror

GRITTY BOND RENEWS HIS LICENCE TO THRILL
007 CASINO ROYALE: THE FIRST REVIEW
By David Edwards Mirror Film Critic
TURNING to face the world's most famous superspy, the bartender asks: "Shaken or stirred, sir?"

"Do I look like I care?" comes James Bond's icy reply.

Make no mistake, the rulebook has been well and truly torn up for 007's latest movie.


And Casino Royale is a breathless, thrilling romp that will win over a whole new generation of fans.


Easily the best Bond film since GoldenEye, it's 144 minutes of non-stop, end-to-end action that proves there's plenty of life in the world's longest-running movie franchise.


But a word of warning - this is unlike any other Bond flick. Dark, gritty and surprisingly violent, the suave, smooth-talking secret agent of old is replaced by a steely-eyed killer with a dash of vulnerability.


And new 007 Daniel Craig - the man with the golden hair, whose casting provoked an outcry among fans - is simply brilliant, oozing the kind of edgy menace that recalls Sean Connery at his very best.


Based on Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, the action begins with Her Majesty's finest assassinating two baddies in a bid to earn his licence to kill. It then switches to his first assignment, spying on terrorist suspects in Madagascar.


His mission soon leads him to the Bahamas, where he learns of the evil Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), who's planning to bankroll a series of terrorist outrages by holding a high-stakes poker contest at Le Casino Royale in Montenegro.


Bond is given $10million to infiltrate the game, the rookie spy still isn't trusted enough by handler M (Judi Dench), who assigns the shapely Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) to keep an eye on him - though 007 still manages to get to grips with mysterious Solange (Caterina Murino).


It's fitting that the film revolves around a card game since, by turning the Bond formula on its head, director Martin Campbell has taken one of the biggest gambles in cinema history. While 007 still gets to drive around exotic locales in his Aston Martin and ends up in a clinch with his leading lady, that's about the only thing Casino Royale has in common with the 20 films that have come before.


Aside from his readiness to kill, this Bond is far more vulnerable than his predecessors - not only does he have his heart broken, he also winds up almost dead after a severe beating at the hands of Le Chiffre.


After a pummelling, Connery and Roger Moore simply dusted off their DJs but this time 007 winds up on the critical list. And if the torture scene doesn't stun, the action set-pieces most certainly will.


Aside from some awesome chases, we get to see Bond trying to stop a jet being blown up in a scene that'll make your head spin faster than downing five vodka martinis.


Tellingly, Campbell is the man who re-energised the series with GoldenEye, the 1995 entry that introduced Pierce Brosnan.


And, incredibly, he's done it again, turning a franchise that, after 2002's Die Another Day, was looking distinctly second-rate - especially in the face of competition from the likes of Mission: Impossible and The Bourne Identity.


The year's most eagerly anticipated film does not disappoint. You'll be shaken. You'll be stirred. Heck, you'll be blown away.


CASINO Royale will be released in cinemas nationwide on November 17.

[Bryan]

Empire

The only thing missing from Casino Royale is a truly memorable theme song. Otherwise, this has almost everything you could want from a Bond movie, plus qualities you didn’t expect they’d even try for. It does all the location-hopping, eye-opening stunt stuff and lavish glamour expected of every big-screen Bond, but also delivers a surprisingly faithful adaptation of Fleming’s short, sharp, cynical book with the post-WWII East-vs.-West backdrop persuasively upgraded to a post 9/11 War on Terror.

From Goldfinger on -- especially in the Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan films -- the usual gambit has been to open with a pre-credits sequence highlighting amazing stuntwork and a larger-than-life exploit. Here, with a new actor cast as a Bond only just issued with his license to kill, we get an intense, black and white scene set in an office in Prague. Bond has just killed his first man – as shown in brief, brutal fight flashbacks which strain the 12A rating – and confronts a traitor in British Intelligence, exchanging pointed dialogue which leads to the ice-cold agent’s demonstration that the second killing is easier (‘Considerably’). The famous iris pose brings in colour, and a brilliantly-designed (shame about the song) titles sequence that highlights not an anonymous beauty but the silhouette of Daniel Craig himself.

For a few reels, Casino Royale lets the new boy settle in to what could almost be a Brosnan or Dalton movie – hard-hitting, but tinged with the fantastical. Bond goes off the map to harry the organisation of ‘banker to the world’s terrorists’ LeChiffre, with a beddable beach beauty along the way, and a thwarted attack on a super-sized jet aeroplane which could have been the climax of any other adventure. Then, with a notable click into focus, the movie segues into Fleming’s tight, twisted plot. Readers will be amazed to find the book’s most memorable scene (involving a wicker chair with the bottom cut out) is included, as is Bond’s brutal Mickey Spillane-ish last line (though, here, he doesn’t quite mean it).

Director Martin Campbell, who set a high mark in GoldenEye that subsequent craftsmen haven’t matched, returns, and regular scripters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade get Oscar-polishing assist from Paul Haggis. There are nods to tradition, with respectful Aston-Martin product placement, but also refreshing breaks from established practice. Judi Dench’s imposing M is held over, but supporting comedy characters like Q and Miss Moneypenny sit this one out. Mads Mikkelsen’s LeChiffre has a physical tic and a lethal girlfriend, but this villain interestingly has as much to lose as the hero, playing cards because he lost terrorist money and needs to make up the shortfall before his clients kill him.

There are miscalculations (a collapsing building in Venice is a gimmick too many in an emotional finale which would play better without all the noise) and audiences who just want a handsome fantasy figure might find a muscular Bond with perpetually bruised knuckles and the beginnings of a drink problem too much of a stretch. But long-running series can only survive through constant renewal. Casino Royale is the most exciting Bond film, in conventional action terms but also in dramatic meat, since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, with the added advantage of a star who finally delivers what the credits have always promised: ‘Ian Fleming’s James Bond’.
Verdict
Contrary to pre-release nay-sayers, Daniel Craig has done more with James Bond in one film than some previous stars have in multiple reprises. This is terrific stuff, again positioning 007 as the action franchise to beat.

[Meh]

Interesting to see that Daniel Craig is getting rave reviews considering what some off the James Bond fan base were saying when he was first cast.

Looking forward to watching the movie especially as I hear there will be three lots of eye candy to look at! (You didn't think Bond was about the action, did you?)

[Bryan]

Interesting to see that Daniel Craig is getting rave reviews considering what some off the James Bond fan base were saying when he was first cast.

Looking forward to watching the movie especially as I hear there will be three lots of eye candy to look at! (You didn't think Bond was about the action, did you?)

bunch of hypocrits to slag him off then praise him, its been intresting to see opinions change over the time on the various Bond forums I go on. Since the teaser trailer they couldn't help singing his praises, and I serioulsy think he could be the best bond since Connery.

Indeed he has 3 beautiful ladies:

Vesper Lynda Played By Eva Green - Arguably the best bond girl since Dina Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.



Solange Dimitris Played By Caterina Murio



Valenka Played By Ivana Milicevic

[Siobhan]

Looking forward to watching the movie especially as I hear there will be three lots of eye candy to look at! (You didn't think Bond was about the action, did you?)

And here was me thinking it was about the genius plots and gadgets.. so it was just about the eye candy

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

No can replace Mr.Pierce for me But.. I will be watching this film and I'm sure I will loveeee it!! Can't wait for it to come out!!

[Mr Humphries]

I went to the Premiere and it was great, I think one of the best bond films in years and years. Daniel Craig is perfect. Some great lines in the film, and he has already signed for the next film Bond22

[Bryan]

No can replace Mr.Pierce for me But.. I will be watching this film and I'm sure I will loveeee it!! Can't wait for it to come out!!

I take it youve been watching the Peirce Brosnan films this week on ITV2? Every night this week at nine

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

I take it youve been watching the Peirce Brosnan films this week on ITV2? Every night this week at nine

No I haven't!! Didn't even know about it.. I know what I will be up to tonight x

[Bryan]

I went to the Premiere and it was great, I think one of the best bond films in years and years. Daniel Craig is perfect. Some great lines in the film, and he has already signed for the next film Bond22

Intresting...where did you see the premiere and what night?