Review of Casino Royale (1954) by Ethan P — 12 Dec 2015

DC's refreshing interpretation of the character, along with a fantastic script (taking the thrilling-but-thin novel and increasing its scope) and the return of Martin Campbell (the best recent-era Bond director) make this an absolute corker. It's not just one of the best BOND films ever made, it's a straight-up classic FILM in its own right.

Vesper overtakes OHMSS's Tracy to claim the prize as the best 'girl' of the series. She's a properly complex, nuanced character, and Eva Green does a spectacular job of bringing her to life. She has become one of my favourite actresses, largely due to her performance here.

Jeffrey Wright manages to make Felix likeable in the little room he has to move. It's certainly the most interesting interpretation out of the many we've had.

Mads Mikkelsen brings tons of charisma and menace, a punchable smugness, and even a bit of vulnerability to Le Chiffre. We despise him and fear him, but we also understand his frustration, and even fear FOR him (a bit) when Mr White (Jesper Christensen: great) shows up.

The action scenes are all topnotch, the cinematography is stunning, as are the costumes (Vesper's purple dress...).

Chris Cornell's theme song is brilliant, and meets my criteria for a good theme - it's of its time, not a yawnworthy '60s throwback; it sounds unmistakably like a Bond theme; but it also sounds unmistakably like a song by the artist producing it. Punchy rock befitting an action thriller. Love it.

Being the Bond fan that I am, I watch the movies quite a bit, particularly the ones I like most. Some of them start to show cracks after repeated viewings, but so far this one holds up very well. I gave it five stars after first seeing it, and have never had reason to consider revising that score.