Although my friend Sandhya didn't wholly agree with this review (she says it's more true to the book than any other Bond film), I maintain that the film sags a bit for a Bond movie. I do like my car chases and exploding fireballs. But Daniel Craig makes it worth yor while.Genre: Action
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Cast: Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench, Eva Green, Caterina Murino
Storyline: Bond has to stop a gambler from winning as the money will go towards funding terrorism
Bottomline: The blondest, hunkiest, most intense Bond ever
The ladies tend to choose Pierce Brosnan, the serious Bond fans Sean Connery. But Daniel Craig, the new James Bond has something for everyone in 'Casino Royale', the latest film in the franchise spawned from Ian Fleming's fictitious action hero.
After the gentlemanly womanising and refined killing by Brosnan, Craig's raw, cold brutality may seem a bit rude. But that's why he suits the story so well. 'Casino Royale' is based on the book in which Fleming introduced the character to the world. The movie begins with James as just another government hack, although he does show signs of promise and individuality. He is as deft at poker as he is at bedding another man's girl.
M, played once again by Judi Dench, asks James to vamoose after he most impolitely storms the embassy of another country and kills quite a few of their people. But she knows him; when he's on a case, he's not going to give up until every villain gets his just desserts and every beautiful woman gets hers.
Events take him to the fabulous 'Casino Royale', where fortunes are made and spent in a gamble. Bond babe by his side, he proceeds to beat Monsieur Le Chiffre at cards.
Eva Green plays Vesper Lynd, not your conventional Bond girl. However, she is the one who finds a place in Agent 007's heart, before the armor comes up (the director would have you believe that she is the reason for the impenetrable detachment that is classic Bond in the other adventures). Critics say that the romance with Vesper humanises Bond and serves as an explanation for his detached womanising. But the truth is, there is no reason for him to fall in love with her. There is no development of the romance, except for a Hindi movie moment where the happy couple's love is reflected in the green trees and the beauteous environment.
Craig is the actual Bond girl in 'Casino Royale'. Not that you doubt his masculinity for a moment. But the cameras linger over his buff body several times – there is one particular shot where he emerges from the sea the exact same way so many Bond girls before him have. He has the look of a moisturised Malboro Man. "Wow, you have taken good care of your body," says the villainous Monsieur Le Chiffre admiringly at one point in the movie when Bond finds himself naked and tied up (not in the good way).
The plot is intricate, and there to engage you if you give a damn. But like every good action movie, 'Casino Royale' works even as a sequence of events that don't really have to make any sense for you to enjoy it. It sags a bit. But these moments would be well spent admiring the incredibly blue eyes of James Bond.
