01 January 2014

James Bond: Casino Royale (2006)

Daniel Craig's debut as 007 had a lot riding on it - if he hadn't delivered, the franchise would be in serious danger. He delivers from his very first scene - demonstrating swagger, cool and a strong degree of vulnerability. I particularly like a couple of moments in the Venice climax, where he just crouches behind the pillar and waits for the bad guys to use up their ammo.

He's not the only great performer in a movie with barely a bad one (maybe Caterina Munro doesn't quite deliver). Eva Green delivers a top-drawer performance, made even better by the fact she is not acting in her native French (I'm looking forward to seeing her in Penny Dreadful later this year) and Mads Mikkelsen exudes an air of quiet menace - I was surprised to see someone from Game of Thrones turn up in it, but the inhabitants of Westeros come from everywhere. Seeing Jeffrey Wright in Boardwalk Empire recently makes me appreciate him even more.

The plot is strong, the action mostly superb and the lack of use of the Bond theme until the end works very much in this film's favour. Plus there are a surprising number of funny lines for a Bond perceived as humourless.

Weaknesses? The poker game is too long (did we need the digitalis bit?), the car chase not long enough and the movie loses something around the two-hour mark, but perhaps this is familiarity breeding contempt.

Conclusion

Justified contender for the title of best Bond.

9/10

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