Saturday, December 16, 2006

Movie Review - Casino Royale

Casino Royale is the re invention of bond, going back to the grittier darker roots of who the man is and where he came from. If we take a quick look at what has gone before starting with the last reinvention, Goldeneye. This was a solid movie, some stretches of the imagination were expected but not everything there was impossible to believe. The thing in common is that Goldeneye was directed by Martin Cambell who also takes the helm on Casino Royale. If we move on through the rest of the Brosnon movies, the boundaries of reality were slowly pushed further and further with each new movie, more gadgets and blatatenly obvious product placement ensued losing some of the edge of goldeneye, Which brings it nicely up to date with the latest in the long running series.

New bond Daniel Craig comes up with the goods in his first outing, teamed with the reprisal of Martin Cambell as the director and an old story, it works and gels together. The familiar pacing is present and the elements are all there, underlying structure is intact but the detail, grittiness of the cinematography and the unfolding of the story is what makes the movie work, along with solid performances from all the cast. The comic elements have been drawn to a bare minimum and this affords the movie a bleaker darker outlook, making it more memorable and less throwaway than previous efforts. The Bond girls are still here and Vesper Lynn played by Eva Green shines, she is strikingly attractive and doesnt let the standard of acting down. M is also back played by Judi Dench, which doesnt seem strange even though she was around in the Brosnon days.

So it is reccomended viewing definately, but who is it recommended for, some scenes are gritty, bare and quite brutal, the same things which give the movie weight also make it more appealing to certain ages and limit it to others. As a more serious involving movie its bodes well for the series, im looking foward to the follow up, to see if they manage to transition the impetus and gritty edge over to the next movie, or whether the relief of successfully reinventing the series affords them a certain grace and laid back attitude. Im confident it will be the former, i cant imagine Daniel Craig playing up to any hint of cheesiness, wont be too long till we find out im sure

Verdict

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