Review of Casino Royale (2006) by Zack L — 06 Sep 2015

It took me over five years to rewatch this movie, and I honestly don't know what took me so long. From beginning to end, I was mesmerised by the explosive action scenes, tense poker sequences, and Daniel Craig's subtle-yet-excellent performance as 007. This movie brought to the Bond franchise what it had been missing for years: a human Bond. Not a campy super-spy, killing machine; a grounded, fresh take on the iconic character.

This film also gave us an iconic, very solid villain. The best villains are those who we as the audience can understand. We were able to believe that Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre would go to any extreme necessary because his life was on the line. He wasn't doing these things simply to toy with people, or because he's just inherently evil. If he didn't get the money, he would be assassinated. This gave Bond a solid rival, one who would go to great length to oppose him. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to.

Eva Green was a spectacular choice for the role of Vesper Lynd. She manages to not only capture Bond's heart, but the audience's as well. And [no spoilers, although the film is almost 10 years old] the twist at the end of the film works really well, and is surprisingly believable.

The movie is just overall a really intense thrill ride, but it doesn't simply rely of heart-pounding action in order to maintain its intensity. It often finds it in the most intriguing of places. The poker scenes are some of the most tense in the film. Casino Royale was a brilliant, realistic take on the Bond character and left audiences (myself included) salivating for future installments.