It took me a long time to “get” James Bond. As a youngster, I spent most Christmas Day’s trying to avoid the repeats for the 100th time. It just didn’t appeal and why would it? It was camp, heck it was naff at times (Moonraker springs to mind) however when I sat down and watched the films fully with an open mind, I began to realise why they were so popular. We the viewer care for James Bond and his increasingly over the top antics, that’s why its gone on for decades and that’s why, dare I say it will go on for many more.

Every generation has a Bond; everybody has a favourite Bond for many different reasons. Connery was the original and played it to perfection, Lazenby was good in a challenging script. Moore was the humorous gentleman who border lined on camp in some ways, Dalton was serious and whilst not the most popular Bond did give the character some of his edge back, Brosnan was good for the first few films then Die Another Day came along and well the less said the better. James Bond has been played in a multitude of ways and so much has gone in the series that if a new film were ever to be made it would either have some serious explaining to do. Or it would just start again, Hey it worked for Batman.

And that’s what Casino Royale did, it rebooted the popular franchise, giving it a fresh face in the form of the much-criticised Daniel Craig. Something, which bothered me somewhat as most people, didn’t even give him a chance before condemning him. The franchise is now much grittier, the gadgets, the women with funny names (Holly Goodhead) are now gone, as is the glitz and the glamour that previous Bond’s relied on. In its place is a colder, darker Bond and in many ways a Jack Bauer Esq. Bond. That show has a lot to answer for I tell you. Bond’s almost a pathetic figure at times, a man who lives for his work and seems to have little or no sympathy or soul left as he embarks on his very first 00 Mission.

The film begins with a nice black and white pre credit sequence showing Bond earning his 00 license by killing two men. It’s beautifully done and straight away makes a clear statement that this is a new Bond. There are no gadgets, no small planes or jet packs, no just Bond and a gun and by God, it’s good to see. Bond kills his two victims in cold blood, one of which takes place in a toilet and is incredible to see and demonstrates a much more violent Bond that hasn’t been seen since Dalton lost the plot in License to Kill. From here, we see a different style of credits, Chris Cornells “You Know My Name” blasts out as a card themed credits plays. The song is very fitting and sets the tone of the film well unlike Madonna’s Die Another Day, which has no passion or meaning thanks to those crazy dance beats. Ahh dear.

The film tells the story of Le Chieffe, a man who is set to take part in a high stakes poker game to raise money for terrorist activities. To be honest its not the strongest Bond plot but it adds to the grittier nature this film sets. Le Chieffe still has the traits of the famous Bond villains, he’s cold, he’s foreign and he cries blood. In my opinion he’s not the greatest villain of all time and in truth when he meets his demise it’s a cold and empty one thanks to the way it’s handled. I don’t want to spoil it for you but it’s not what you would expect.

Back to the plot, and Bond discovers about Le Chieffe after a series of incredible set pieces, one of which includes an epic free running chase scene, which is brilliant for the simple reason. Bond cant keep up with the far more skilled and athletic man he’s chasing. In Moores day he would have beaten him easily and made some throw away line about not breaking a sweat. This however is a new-hardened Bond who has to use his cunning to think of creative ways of keeping up. Its all very good and a great way to welcome the viewer to Bonds antics. There is also an interesting airport scene in which Bond tries to stop a bomb from blowing up a plane, again its impressive and shows a darker side to Bond. It also shows some very impressive stunt work and special effects that I’m sure will impress a lot of new comers to the Bond series as well as please the existing fans. Anyway, It’s thanks to these two events that Bond is assigned to play Le Chieffe in the poker game. Along the way, he meets the treasury agent Vesper Lyndz a very attractive and well-written Bond girl and one that constantly has the feeling of morale superiority over Bond. The relationship between Bond and Vesper is very well written for the most part. However later on there is an excruciatingly bad scene between the two where cliché , embarrassing dialogue and promises are thrown around with gay abandon. Still it’s only a minor gripe from me.

A large part of the film takes place surrounding the poker game, it should be boring watching prolonged games of poker, but for some reason its not, you feel the tension and want to know what happens next. I suppose cutting a few minutes of it wouldn’t have helped but its important that the audience gets used to and understands how important the game is to the plot. Casino Royale is where the game takes place and coincidently is the name of the casino in the first Bond film “Dr No”. It’s at the casino that Bonds character really evolves; he shows his animal side as he kills two henchmen in a very dark and graphic way for the series. Its Vespers reaction to the killings that really shows the audience how little Bond has left in terms of spirits and compassion, whilst he wipes the blood away and drinks Whiskey she sits crying and in shock. Its little bits like that, which really shows how Bond deals with everything he sees, he just shuts it out and becomes almost inhuman. Again, I don’t want to spoil too much of the film for you but I will say that there are some classic Bond humorous moments in the film and some nice throwaway lines to previous Bonds as well. Something the hardened fan will appreciate.

Later on in the film there is a torture scene lifted straight from the book in which Bond is well. Lets just say he won’t be sitting down with a smile on his face for a very long time. It’s a vastly different torture scene than any other Bond has endured, Bond is shown as weak, vulnerable and without any fancy watches or bionic gadgets to help him out. After all, this is Bonds first mission he’s still learning and making mistakes, and believe me he makes a few.

The tension builds from the poker game to Bonds relationship with Vesper, and leads into a nice finale. Again, I don’t want to ruin too much but it’s cleverly done and after all is said Vesper becomes one of the more interesting Bond girls to emerge. After the finale set in Venice and featuring some nice Bond kills we then see a clever ending shot of Bond getting revenge on someone who apparently masterminded everything. The ending is particularly good as it show us that after what he has endured Bond finally has earned the right to say the immortal line.

Bond, James Bond.

This is a great film, as a Bond fan for many years now it’s a great feeling to know that the character is back to his best. Its perhaps my favourite Bond film and makes me proud to be a fan. However there are so bad points to it, it goes on about 8 minutes to long, its not a major thing but some scenes drag a little and it hurts the pacing of the film at times. Also I mentioned earlier the embarrassing dialogue between Vesper and Bond in a particular scene, its such a random conversation and the way its written is almost sickening. There is also the Le Chieffe and the mastermind character at the end, it would have made more sense to have Le Chieffe as the main villain in his film, as it is the mastermind character just seems to be there for the sake of it and its hard to really care what happens to him.

Still its bloody good and I would highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading.