Casino Royale (2006)
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen
Synopsis:
Newly minted 00-agent James Bond is tasked with thwarting a financier at a high-stakes poker tournament.
Impressions:
Given how the Craig era of Bond films spiralled out of control, it feels odd going back to seeing when there was actually some optimism about this new take on the franchise. The idea of a darker, grittier Bond had already been tested somewhat unevenly in the Dalton era and this movie clearly shows the influence of the Jason Bourne series. Of course, making James Bond into Jason Bourne takes away a lot of what makes this franchise unique, but while we can see the groundwork for some of the misery to come, here it's kept on a tight enough leash that it's not egregious. We get some good moments, particularly the freerunning sequence in Madagascar, and I thought the dynamic between Bond and Vesper was rather good. Mads Mikkelsen does well in the villain role as Le Chiffre and if you don't think about how it actually turned out, the setup for the grand evil conspiracy is intriguing. For this iteration of 007, they brought out their best right out the gate, so enjoy it while it lasts. Give this a watch at the very least.
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