NoFace for Film

Title: Casino Royale
Year: 2006
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Dame Judi Dench
Rated: PG-13

NoFace for Film rating: 5 out of 7

I actually got to watch this film at the world-famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater, which was pretty cool. At the same time it was kind of pathetic of me since it was my first time watching a movie there when I’ve lived in Southern California for most of my life. I had a blast waiting in line, standing next to Annette Benning’s star and Michael Jackson’s star a mere yard away from me. I snickered to myself when I saw a tourist take two pictures of Mickey Mouse’s star but completely ignore the pedophile’s star.

I continued to laugh to myself as I observed all the tourists getting their pictures taken with people dressed in costumes. Seriously- there were people (presumably employed by Grauman’s Chinese Theater, but I’m not quite sure) dressed as Anakin Skywalker, Michael Meyers, The Little Mermaid, Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Michael Jackson, and Homer Simpson. Then there were the losers dressed as non-famous characters: some random wizard who isn’t Gandalf, Merlin, or Dumbledore; some random demon, and some random fairy. Man, Hollywood is weird.

But I digress. On with the review.

Casino Royale is based on Ian Fleming’s very first James Bond novel. The story in essence starts from the beginning, for we encounter a young Bond (Craig) receiving his 00 status and going on his first official mission. The mission involves participating in a super high stakes poker game to beat a corrupt banker (Mads Mikkelson) who plans to use the winnings to fund terrorist activities. Since MI6 will be providing the funds for Bond to play with, they send him an accountant, Vesper Lynd (Green) to keep an eye on the money.

I admit that I was hesitant to watch Casino Royale because I figured that it would be the same as past crappy Bond films. Let’s face it: most Bond films follow the same formula. You have the fancy shmancy gadgets courtesy of Q; the hot Bond Girls with the most suggestive names ever (Pussy Galore man!!! Seriously!!) ; the over-the-top supervillain; the corny one-liners; and the doomsday device thingy that Bond has to either steal or destroy. But I was told that, much like Batman Begins, Casino Royale was meant to jump start a dying franchise and return it to its roots. Bond is young and raw. He gets yelled at by his boss M (Dench). He’s sloppy and arrogant, and as a result makes lots of mistakes throughout his mission. There is no Q, which means no arsenal of exploding pens or other supercool gadgets to help him- just a gun and a plain old cell phone. The cars, as gorgeous as they are (Aston Martins, natch), are plain old cars with no ejecting seats or rockets underneath. The only thing it has is a defibrilator (which comes in handy). There’s also no supervillian hiding in a volcano, plotting for world domination as he strokes a cat. And there’s no gimmicky doomsday device. The object of desire here is plain old money. Cash. Moolah. 150 million dollars’ worth. And indeed, it was refreshing. While there were some light moments and a few funny (instead of lame) one-liners, I liked that Casino Royale took itself seriously. It took James Bond seriously. He’s still a badass, but he screws up a lot and pays the price for it in many ways.

I thought that it was interesting for the writers to retcon the James Bond story. For example, while in Goldeneye it was established that Dench’s M was replacing a male commanding officer, in Casino Royale the audience gets the impression that this female M is Bond’s first boss. But then again, there was never really any continuity in the James Bond universe; otherwise he’d have to be like, 75 years old by now.

Like many people, I wondered about the casting of Daniel Craig as Bond. Who is this guy? The last movie I saw him was in Road to Perdition, and he was barely in it. But I think that Craig did a good job as Bond. Unlike some past Bonds (especially Pierce Brosnan), Craig portrays Bond as a flawed character. Yes, he’s still smooth with the ladies. Yes, he’s still a badass and can mow down loads of guys at once. Yes, he’s still highly intelligent. But as I mentioned earlier, he’s cocky, arrogant, and makes lots of dumbass mistakes. He gets emotional. He lets down his guard. My biggest problem with Craig was that often times I couldn’t understand what the hell he was saying! Unlike Brosnan, Craig has a deeper voice and speaks in low tones, not to mention that he mumbles his lines. Speak up!

I thought that Eva Green was pretty good as well. She wasn’t just a pretty face. The girl can actually act, which is miraculous since Bond Girls aren’t normally picked for their acting abilities. She too, is a multi-faceted character. On one hand, she seems like a tough cookie, confident and able to withstand Bond’s charms. On the other hand, she can be very vulnerable, clinging to James as if her life depended on it.

I think that Casino Royale is the start of something good. I hope they keep taking the franchise seriously and make future Bond films in a similar manner. Watch this film. It’s pretty good.

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