Casino Royale DVD > Reviews > Action All The Way

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	good plot, fast paced
Disadvantages:	not too keen on Bond himself

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have never been a fan of any kind of James Bond film and don't know why but I just consider them your typical man film so usually avoid them. I have seen a few though which have proved me wrong but when I heard Daniel Craig was going to replace Pierce Brosnan as the new Bond I was a bit put off as I didn't really feel he was the right man for the part. Casino Royale is the first film he has played the part of Bond and after saying to myself I would go see the film I never got round to it but the other night I finally watched the film and have to say I was surprisingly impressed and it wasn't as torturing an experience as I'd expected it would have been.

The film goes on with the plot of 007 going to Madagascar on a mission he is there to get an international bomb maker Mollaka, Bond kills him and escapes after a huge chase scene. Once he gets Mollaka's phone he sees he has been making calls to an Alex Dimitrios who works with Le Chiffre a banker who profits from the downfall of successful companies in the stocks and issues terrorist attacks to sink their values. Then he finds Dimitrios and moves on as another attack is about to take place at Miami airport on an airbus. The attack is stopped thanks to Bond who leaves Le Chiffre in a bad position as he had money in this.

After this Le Chiffre sets up a poker tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro but Bond hopes that a loss would make Le Chiffre help the British Government. This becomes a very big game as a lot of money is being put into it. Le Chiffre wants to put more money in because he is certain of a win so he can use the money for terrorism but Bond is trying to stop this.

The film goes on it is a good plot but I think it's really hard to tell as the storyline is quite in depth. The Bond girl in this film was played by Eva Green who I didn't really know too well and I didn't think she was a great choice but I suppose she wasn't a terrible actress. Judi Dench was also back in this film as the high up agent. I always think she is a good actress but her part was small in this film.

The film had some really good action scenes; I think the scene at the beginning in Madagascar where Bond is after Mollaka is probably one of the best parts in the film. It opens the film well and the men are springing about from rooftops to building cranes in this chase. They are running alone thin beams Mollaka is running for his life and this is a run for survival as he hops over everything and Bond doesn't let him get out of his sight, leaping after him. It is a very fast paced, energetic scene which was well shot.

I think Daniel Craig was good in the part in the end. I do think he is a bit rough looking for Bond but I suppose he did have the charm of a typical Bond and he was believable as a fighter and leading man. At time he did seem a bit weak though and I don't think he's is nearly as good as previous Bond's but for the time being he did ok.

All Bond films generally have the same kind of plot but this film was very long it runs on for just over two and a half hours but every scene is necessary I feel otherwise you would have had parts left unexplained. Towards the end of this film I think I had guessed what was going to happen it wasn't too predictable but I have seen a lot of films like this and knew really where it was going.

The film can be purchased on Amazon for £5.47 on Amazon and on Play.com for £5 which has free delivery. I'd recommend this film for all Bond fans because if you've loved the last films then you will definitely love this. If you are not a Daniel Craig film don't watch this. Even if you have never seen a Bond film though this is quite a good film to watch it is full of action and will pass a boring night.

The film is 144 minutes long and is a 12 certificate. The official website is located at http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/casinoroyale/index.html where you can view the trailer and other film information.