Casino Royale

(c) Eon Productions

My, it's been a while since I posted anything - mind you, nobody's reading anyway! :D

In the face of the commercial success of the blockbuster-earning Die Another Day but with a stern critical backlash over the film's dodgy script, poor/over-use of CGI (Surfing Bond - just wrong) and gadgetry - its a far cry from the grittier Goldeneye - Eon take a brave but risky decison to reboot the Bond franchise - using not just the title but most of the actual Fleming story from the first Bond novel Casino Royale, which was previously filmed as a farce starring David Niven, Peter Sellers and Woody Allen.

In this Novel, the novice agent has just earned his '00' status becoming an early, less embittered and more naive MI5 agent.

Martin Campbell (Goldeneye) returns to shoot a Wade and Purvis script based on the book, which is reworked by the magic digits of Paul Haggis (screenwriter - Million Dollar Baby, Crash) which aims to take Bond back to the beginning- albeit setting the novel in a contemporary setting and retaining Judi Dench's 'M' despite the continuity paradox which seems to get lots of people hot under the collar.

Daniel Craig is chosen to play the first Blond Bond and was written off before a single 35mm frame is in the can by some people who think they can not only critique a film/actor but can do so before a single frame is in the can. Well, I do hope those idiots at 'craignotbond' had a dose of humble pie that gave them the shits as Craig absolutely nails the part, owning the tux and seamaster in a way that only Connery did previously. Strong, physical, rugged but Craig also nuances his perfomance with hints of the traits that Bond is known for - traits I'd imagine will be phased in slowly in the next movies following this reboot.

In Eva Green's Vesper, Craig has an exceptional actress to spar with - the scene on the train, the crisp, jousting dialogue clearly Haggis' work, well I'll not spoil it but it's my favourite 'on a train' scene after the memorable exchange between Cary Grant and Eva Saint-Marie in Hitchcock's Bond prototype North By Northwest.

Mads Mickelson makes for an interesting baddie in Le Chiffre, a terrorist banker who bets on the wrong horse and needs to run a high-stakes winner takes all game of Poker at Casino Royale - Texas Hold'em is chosen rather than Baccarat from the book, presumably due to it's wider appeal.

A misjudged reboot could well have done what numerous baddies failed to do and killed 007 off for good, but this movie is an utter joy - crisp, gritty action scenes, excellent acting all round, a complex yet fairly realistic plot and a script packed with Fleming-esq scenes - and no road-going gondolas or invisible cars in sight.

The decision to continue this story into the script for the follow up Quantum of Solace - the third film to be named after a Fleming short story from his book of short Bond adventures titled For Your Eyes Only (that and A View To A Kill were also used) is a good one and the return of Jeffrey Wright who underplayed Felix Leiter nicely in Royale should add some much needed continuity. In Marc Foster, they have selected a director who has a nice eye and is a good storyteller.