From the beginning, the Bond film establishes itself like none other. The opening scene, for instance, is in black and white, harkening back to the original version of "Casino Royale" and setting up Craig's legitimacy as the latest Bond. The title song, which has not strayed from the film title since "Octopussy," was an alternative rock tune called "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell (lead singer of Audioslave) and composer David Arnold. Instead of the usual silhouettes of shapely women, there were shadows of men fighting and killing one another amidst a background of playing cards.
In these first images, we see the new agent's brutish nature. M says, "Any thug can kill," and that's what Craig is-a thug. He actually kills people. Sure, we all know that 007 has a license to kill, but never before have we seen him choke someone to death and then worry about what to do with the body. We usually see him shoot from afar and think nothing more of it. And, pardon me for being superficial, but Craig looks nothing like the slender, dark, handsome depiction of Bond. His blue eyes and light brown-blonde hair frame a hardened face that rests on his chiseled body.
More than that, though, "Casino Royale" humanizes 007. He gets bruised physically and emotionally. Spoiler alert: He falls in love. The last time the franchise tried that was in 1969, with "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," and that ended George Lazenby's short stint as the secret agent. What nonsense; Bond can't have feelings! At least not the accepted version of him. As much as I prefer the old-fashioned fantasy of Bond, I'll admit that this radical take is refreshing.
Craig still pulls off the martini, suit and wit with style. Even in his most dire moments, he manages to laugh them off with his impeccable sense of humor. Not to mention he's absolutely brilliant and, through Craig's superb acting, you can see the wheels turning in his mind as he solves problems. Bond fans will find in-the-know references to suggestive last names, Miss Moneypenny and Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright). "Casino Royale" also includes the requisite female counterpart, or "Bond girl," in Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). The Bond movies from the last decade have been progressive in presenting powerful women who can defend themselves and Lynd is no different. She even matches 007's wit. For example, Bond says to her, "You're not my type." She asks, "Smart?" to which he bitingly replies, "Single." In addition, the film upholds the mandatory crazy mathematical genius of a villain, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). He is inventive in his simple, quite literally bare-skinned torture technique that is so different from Goldfinger's fancypants laser.
Loosely based on the novel by Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale" is actually the first installment of the series when Bond is appointed to double-oh status. He must track down Le Chiffre, a card-playing millionaire who funds terrorist organizations, all the way to the Texas Hold'Em tables in Montenegro. By the bye, to see these amazing hands played for millions of dollars was gripping.
On that note, "Casino Royale" delivers some of the most thrilling action scenes that I have ever seen in a Bond movie. The chase at the construction site, the airport extravaganza and the building collapse in Venice are incredibly striking and original.
Nonetheless, the plot is somewhat thin, giving the audience too little information. Bond would follow hired assassins and I wouldn't exactly know why. But the screenplay is strung together sensibly. The use of cell-phones as information retrieval devices is a particularly nice touch as is the theme of not knowing who to trust.
The film's conclusion hardens the agent and gives us the cold Bond who can detach himself from emotional entanglements. His character development helps us to understand his actions and portrayals in the rest of the series. Craig, the script and the cinematography excel in presenting a believable, fresh Bond and an entertaining movie that I highly recommend. All of the strategies to set up Craig as 007 from stressing the original "Casino Royale" to the final, quintessential line of the film, "Bond, James Bond," ingratiate the audience so that we ultimately accept Craig in this classic role.
But don't be mistaken. This is a new 007 and he is already preparing for "Bond 22."