Casino Royale

Casino Royale (2006)

Runtime: 144 minutes

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelson, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench

From: MGM/Columbia

This wasn't exactly how I planned on doing it, but I do plan on seeing Skyfall within the next few days; the exact date, I am not sure yet. I figured it would only be appropriate to talk about the first two Craig Bonds before I go see the third one. Plus, it's a nice refresher; although, I have heard the new one is more of a stand-alone thing than a flick that directly follows the last one.

You should know the plot by now: The dude who now has the code name James Bond (hey, that's the theory to explain the different guys with the same name and how he's been alive for so long) has to deal with Le Chiffre, a banker for a mysterious terrorist organization. Chiffre enters a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro in order to win back money that was lost after Bond thrawted his stock-related scheme. 007 has to stop him by winning the game, all while trying to find out more about his group and falling in love with the lovely Vesper Lynd.

While you could carp about some things with the film, like how there's seemingly a 4^th act that isn't as awesome as the first three, how the big game was changed to poker from baccarat as the former is easier for people to understand and because-unfortunately-poker on American TV was a huge deal back in the day, how the narration of the game wasn't really needed, or even that it isn't that much of a traditional Bond movie. All of those points aren't unwarranted; despite that, I still really enjoyed the film, especially compared to what was to follow two years later... the story was certainly engrossing, the action scenes were really well-done and nicely filmed (especially the parkour vs. Bond chase where that dude jumps and flips around in a fancy way using the environment where 007 uses his brains and his brawn and the entire Miami sequence), the settings of Madagascar, Montenegro, and Italy were all nice-even if they weren't all filmed at those locations-and yeah, Eva Green isn't bad-looking either. The fact that for the most part it is real nicely-paced (even with the long Montenegro stuff) is another bonus.

I am glad the movie still holds up well and I still dig it a lot. I do know that Friday night I'll rewatch Quantum of Solace for the first time in 4 years. Maybe I'll think a little higher of it with time, but I have a feeling I'll have quite a few negative things to say about it.