Casino Royale Review

That's right, I saw "Casino Royale"...two nights ago...for the fourth time. Now, I have only watched one movie more than that when it was in theaters, I saw "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" five times if that tells you anything. Another thing I should tell you is this as soon as the introduction for the film started, I squeled like a twelve year old girl at a Hansen concert...hmm I guess that's a bit outdated...I guess John Mayer is better.
Casino Royale: A. Who said that a Blond Bond was impossible? Screw you guys! Daniel Craig took the wit and charm that we've always designated James Bond by and made it just as quality as any prior actor who put on the dinner tuxedo. As an actor Daniel Craig has been showing me that he has an ability to take on different character roles and do a very solid job. Movies like "Layer Cake", "The Jacket", "Road to Perdition" & "Munich" have shown off his acting skills in a number of different settings. Although "Layer Cake" was not that great of a film, it allowed me to view Daniel Craig as a leading man and assured me of his skills there. When I heard that Craig was to be the new Bond I did not fret like a lot of people did, I understood that like any other Bond ever picked, he was out of no where and blond hair was no disqualifying factor. He played the role of a blossoming Bond quite well, not entirely perfect with his pick-up lines, suave movements and graceful villain dethronings.
Eva Green was absolutely gorgeous in the film. I did not find her attractive in "Kingdom of Heaven", but in this film she exuded outer beauty, intelligence, voracity and overall sex appeal that was not needed to be attended to by the eyes. In a scene from the film she walks up and kisses Daniel Craig at the card table to catch the attention of other players, if Campbell's camera hadn't of followed her ass out of the playing area, I would have used my mind to be admiring her ass walking away from me. There were many times when she and Craig had fantastic chemistry and I felt that she was being true to her character.
Mads Mikkelsen was downright amazing! If you are looking for the typical diabolical Bond villain, Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffe is your man and then some. Great job to make-up for making him look creepy with the scar over his left eye. His accent, his manerisms and his treachery were amazingly acted and represented in this film. Everytime he took the table it was like he knew exactly the cards his opponents were playing (naturally) and when to fold. It was like he studied a video of Johnny Chan and just stuck to it in his manerisms to dictate what it was to understand how everyone was playing. Amazing job by Mikkelsen in this film.
Even Judi Dench and Giancarlo Giannini were great additions to the film. They both added a little bit more flavor to a film that would have been good without them, but made it even better with both of them in it. Dench played the perfect cold-hearted MI6 bitch and Giannini played the part of a semi-comic relief character to a T.
Sadly enough, no real gadgets for you all to admire over, but I will say one thing of that. John Cleese is lots of fun and I respect him as an actor, but Desmond Llewellyn as Q was just the best there is and throwing in a guy named "R" to keep the gadgets rolling just isn't the same. I'd say a better choice would've been Michael Gambon if he can do a British accent as well as an Irish one. Unlike a lot of people I didn't have a problem not seeing Bond have a pen that was actually a thermal detonator that could be linked with any bomb in a 500 yard area. The fact that the gadgets that were involved were realistic and more importantly pragmatic made the movie more believable and therefore better.
One thing I should point out to all of you who plan to or have seen this film, it is the beginning of Bond. You simply cannot expect the kind of polished character that any of the prior Bond's have presented because this was his first real 007 mission ever. The storyline was built quite well, it picked up when it needed to and slowed down when it needed to. Action sections were judiciously sought out by the director to allow for the greatest effect on the audience. The action scenes period were well shot, planned and coreographed.
I understand that some of you may be asking why I spoke mainly of the acting in this film. The answer is simple, unless the storyline is grossly terrible, Bond films have been and always will be about making great characters. There is a reason why they are called "Bond" films and not "secret agent" movies. Frankly, this movie is no different, its about making the characters that we will all empathize with and enjoy.
Now for the things that bothered me. With about thirty minutes left in the film, the story became slow...REALLY slow and the dialogue became hammy. When I say hammy I mean hammy, I've sat through chick flicks without saying that. The ending, either just a little more on the film or a little less, anyone who wants to know my idea for the ending that would've had old Bond fans shitting themselves with glee can e-mail me: ne0_maxmus@hotmail.com
Finally, the little things that I liked in little detail. Watch out for an old friend from Langley to make an appearance, Chris Cornell's original song "You Know My Name", the introduction, every Bond movie has torture and this one is no exception, finally and most inconsequentially on the final page of credits, the words...
"James Bond will Return"