Review of Casino Royale (2006) by Daniel D — 30 Jul 2015

After rewatching this film, I must say it did a good job of rebooting the franchise. Eva Green did a great job as Vesper and Mikkelsen did likewise as LeChiffre. The movie is very well directed, which is what one should expect from the man who previously directed GoldenEye. Having said this, I do have my quibbles with this film, but before I get into them, I want to emphasize that the positives generally outweigh the negatives on here.

Firstly, I prefer the campy yet cold style of Brosnan over the sentimental and dry-humored style of Craig. The latter is a large part of what this film is about, and if you prefer Craig's approach to Brosnan's, then that's your taste and you're entitled to it. I also prefer Connery to Craig, since I feel Connery was generally a more charming Bond. But make no mistake: I still think that Craig did a good job here on his first outing as 007, it's just that I'd rather watch some of the movies with those 2 guys (in the role) than this one.

Secondly, I thought the love story got a bit cheesy (thankfully, not too much). While at the cinema it might have felt more impressive, to me after rewatching this flick it just doesn't hit hard anymore. I think they could've downplayed the love story a little bit, since, even though I do like a sense of romantic Bond/Bond girl interplay, I think it should be limited to a degree.

Thirdly, I'm not interested in Bond invading M's privacy (he figured out the real meaning behind the "M" letter and went as far as getting into her apartment). I hope this breach of professional boundaries is left in the Craig Era and never attempted again in later Bond films.

But these are just minor quibbles of mine. Overall, Casino Royale is a worthy entry in the Bond franchise.