cinemattraction

The working title for Casino Royale was Bond Begins, which is incredibly appropriate both in terms of its reference to the Batman franchise and also to the rebirth of one of the most popular characters in cinematic history. Bond is back, and he’s grown up over the last four years since we last saw him.

Martin Campbell takes up the directorial helm again, having brought us the last arguably decent Bond movie, Goldeneye. The script is smart and sassy, and penned by the same duo responsible for The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day – Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. They must have learned from their mistakes though, because Casino Royale is sharp-tongued and witty without the slightest whiff of the cheese we have become accustomed to. Or perhaps it’s the fact that Paul Haggis – the screenwriter of Million Dollar Baby and Crash – polished up the final draft.

The plot revolves around a poker game hosted by a banker who launders money for terrorists. After losing almost everything, he gambles what little he has left on a high stakes game in Montenegro. Enter newly-appointed agent James Bond “007″ with a plan to beat him and force his co-operation with the British government.

The changes appear early on with a surprisingly brutal opening sequence bereft of the usual ornaments and the excellent new theme song performed by Chris Cornell of Audioslave. The action set-pieces in this movie are stunning, in particular the free-running chase in Madagascar, which will leave the audience gasping. The stunts are more physical than ever before, and the violence is far bloodier than anything we’ve ever seen in the franchise.

This is where a 15 certificate (the equivalent of an American R-rating) may have been more appropriate. There are scenes of close-up physical violence and torture that are not really suitable for children. Perhaps I’m being prudish, but gone is the slapstick fisticuffs of Roger Moore, or the smug quips of Pierce Brosnan. This Bond doesn’t mess about, and you hear every rib crack and every knife sink in.

Daniel Craig gives a very assured performance, having both the physical presence and the cool manner needed to carry it off. He is a “new” Bond in every sense of the word: egotistically cocky, occasionally clumsy and vulnerable. There is one fantastic scene very reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner in which Bond licks his wounds in his bathroom after a particularly bad beating, washing away the blood and downing whiskey to numb the pain. There are even tender moments, a scene in the shower being the most emotive cue for a lump-in-the-throat.

Eva Green is marvelously feisty as Bond’s love interest, Vesper Lynd; and Mads Mikkelsen revels in his role as Bond villain Le Chiffre who has one of the most subtle but brilliant physical traits since Scaramanga’s third nipple. Refreshingly, the villains are actually believable in this movie. They don’t hide away in volcanoes or in space stations. Their plans are far more immediate and frightening: They harbor terrorists and try to blow up planes.

Judi Dench is back as the long suffering M but you won’t see Bond flirting with Moneypenny or getting under the feet of techno-wizard Q. Gone are many of the usual trappings of a Bond movie. The cars still look like works of art, the girls are still beautiful, and the locations are still glamorous and beautifully shot. The cursive nods back to the Bond films of the past are clever and nicely delivered.

If you can look past the sometimes quite disgraceful advertising, particularly by a certain watchmaker and by Sony, who seems to have found an opportunity to show off every feature on every phone they make, then you will find a roller coaster ride of bone-breaking action and espionage like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

One piece of advice: Avoid all the publicity for this movie. Don’t watch the trailers, any documentaries, or sneak previews that come free with the newspapers. They all give far too much away, and kill the tension and surprise. Advertising executives need to learn how to hold more back. I had already seen shots from almost every segment of the film, and it took the edge off a frankly brilliant piece of storytelling.

Bond is truly back, and what’s more, part two of this story will be with us no later than 2008. That’s right, part two. Bond has become a new kind of animal.

© 2006 Phillip Piggott. All rights reserved.

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