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By
Edwin Hopkins
Email Mr.
Hopkins
HUGE
After nearly 45 years of clever gadgets,
extraordinary cars, planes, helicopters, jet packs,
etc., exotic locations and, oh, did I forget to
mention, those incredibly gorgeous women, it was
inevitable that fans ( like yours’ truly) would see
a James Bond from his humble beginnings before he
became a seasoned MI6 veteran whose number 007 would
become forever legendary. And British actor Daniel
Craig (remember him in Munich?) delivers big time.
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| From the opening black and white sequence
leading to Danny Kleinman’s vibrant title design of
aces, hearts, diamonds, spades and virtually, no
nude women, you’ll know this will be a much
different 007 than what we’ve been used to for the
past 20 installments. Except for the game change
from baccarat to poker, Casino Royale remains
faithful to Ian Flemings novel; something that has
not been realized since On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service. Bond is literally stripped of his
rock-hardness in exchange for flawed vulnerability.
I was certainly able to connect with him more than
in previous Bond films. While Sean Connery played
the role with suave discipline, Craig’s Bond is
decidedly wreckless. After his first two kills, one
being an MI6 agent selling secrets to the enemy
which earns him his double-0 status, he gets
involved in a rather nasty situation in Uganda when
a simple surveillance mission becomes one of the
most thrilling foot chase scenes ever. It ends
unceremoniously with Bond setting off an
international incident and M (Dame Judi Dench) very
ticked off. “I knew it was too early to promote
you”,
she muses almost regrettably.
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| The incident involved a terrorist
who was indirectly connected with LeChiffre, an
international financier of terrorist groups. His
base of operation is the Casino Royale in Montenegro
where he sets up high stake poker games to win the
money he needs to satisfy his clients. When Bond
foils a 100 million dollar payoff to one of these
clients , Le Chiffre must win this next game or his
clients dissatisfaction will translate into his
demise. Bond, being the best poker player in MI6, is
assigned to out gamble him, with help from
beautiful, headstrong accountant, Vesper Lynn (Eva
Green). I admit when I heard that Daniel Craig had
been chosen as the next 007, I was a bit wary. Prior
to Casino Royale, I had seen him in only 3 other
films, Layer Cake, Munich and most recently, the dvd
movie Archangel. The initial teasers and trailers
alone were
enough for me to reconsider. All anxieties over
Craig’s incapability to fill some pretty big shoes
(there’s even a website titled ,daniel craig is not
bond) should fade away quickly.
Director Martin Campbell, who also helmed Pierce
Brosnan’s first outing as the British super spy,
drives Royale into new territories courtesy of
scripters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis
(Crash) . As have all previous 007 film makers and
writers, they elicit the requisite drama, suspense
and in this case, even rougher, hard hitting action.
There’s one part( among others) where you actually
wonder how Bond could possibly survive and if you
know anything about playing poker, the game between
him and Le Chiffre will definitely keep you on edge
the entire time.
One thing hasn’t changed, those gorgeous women,
although Bond’s attitude towards them takes a rather
brash, dark turn when he says he prefers married to
single which immediately caused momentary lung
failure for me and the audience. 007 was quite bold
in the early days wasn’t he?
French born actress Eva Green whom I vaguely
remember in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, will
most likely be etched into every Bond fans memory.
As the latest addition to the elite sorority of
“Bond girls/women”, her character Vesper Lynn serves
as an equal match for 007. The chemistry she shares
with Craig is magical, most notably during their
first meeting when both attempt to ferret each
others personalities through a verbal fencing match.
Through the controlled mayhem, both Bond and
Vesper eventually become victims of Le Chiffre. Mads
Mikkelsen, like Eva, makes a superb addition to the
Bond characters in this fashion as the villain. Most
Bond baddies are full of themselves throughout
the entire movie. Le Chiffre’s seems restricted to
the casino and nowhere else.
In the company of the Dame Judi Dench taking a
more dramatic role than usual, Casino Royale serves
as another victorious transition for the franchise.
And although I still miss Desmond Llewellyn, it was
pleasant to see Q sit this one out for a change. |