Casino Royale (2006)

The so called Bond fans who cannot get over the fantasy gadgets and fantasy women and fantasy everything need to grow up. This is the 21st century Bond,and I am very glad to say the movie makers have,with this movie successfully transformed Bond into a 21st century person rather than letting him rot as a relic of the 60's. This movie is the cinematic equivalent of a shaken martini,it has style,charm and speed. Craig admittedly may not fit the typical Bond image which earlier actors played so good,but he has his own personality and his grimness and dark charm is actually believable and entertaining. He has done a great job by letting Bond finally FEEL and react normally rather than be a one liner murdering machine. Vesper is great and the chemistry was delicious. I agree Judi Dench was boring and Q was necessary and a few scenes went out of hand but there have been worse movies and worse Bond movies.This is a great movie and far better than many spy flicks.

I hadn't watched any Bond movies other than the most recent Spectre, and I decided to go back to Daniel Craig's first outing as Bond back in 2006. Quite honestly, I enjoyed the movie, just not enough.Casino Royale sees James Bond get his 007 status before going on a sinister mission to take down a man running a ''high-stakes poker game'' that has been betting against big world corporations. Honestly, I enjoyed a large part of the film. The first half of the film is enjoyable, quality, smart action that breezes by you spectacularly. I highly praise both the chase in Uganda and especially the airport scene. Daniel Craig plays Bond as a matter-of-fact, smug agent for this half of the movie (and, actually, the entire movie really). It's just the second half of the film that really gets too drawn out and confusing for me. James Bond goes to Montenegro with Vesper Lynd, going to participate in the poker game with Le Chiffre. Everything after this becomes slow and drawn out. Honestly, I would be fine with this slow pacing, except the whole plot felt a bit confusing for me. Maybe I'm just dumb, because this movie got universal acclaim, but it just felt like too much at times for me. That's not to mention that this movie is 2 hours 20 minutes, and for the entire last half hour I was just waiting for the movie to end. The best of the action is over by about the one hour mark in my opinion, and the entire remainder of the movie just feels boring. The little action that is left is, albeit, good, just not enough.Okay, so this movie doesn't need to just be non-stop action; that would be unreasonable. But the casino scene is just boring for me, which was a shame since it takes up a large part of the second half of the movie. Still, I digress; Casino Royale is a good movie. I enjoyed every bit of it, even if not the second half as much as the first half. Daniel Craig shines as James Bond, and the film is visually stunning. I have high hopes for the entire franchise going into the future. Maybe this film didn't wow me as much as it did others, but I still thought it was a good, enjoyable movie.

Movie Review: "007: Casino Royale"Bond movie number twenty-one is quality motion picture entertainment of the highest order. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson rearrange themselves to present Daniel Craig as the sixth actor, who takes on the legendary character of 007 aka James Bond. The leading man finds his proper signature of contemporary fitness and ruthless focus in this adaptation of Ian Fleming's very first 007 novel "Casino Royale" from 1953.Director Martin Campbell revisits the Bond universe after the already accomplished "GoldenEye" from 1995 starring Pierce Brosnan as 007. Together with his longtime collaborator cinematographer Phil Méheux, they visualize this action-thriller, which binds the audience from the first minute in a classic 35mm black & white shot pre-title sequence, where James Bond needs to prove himself with two assassinations in order to get granted for 00-status.The picture is cast in elegant fashion with international actor Mads Mikkelsen as Bond nemesis Le Chiffre, who fights with 007 in a major-suspense-sharing party of Texas Holdem at a five-star hotel location in beautiful Montenegro despite giving in to action-standards as also presented fist or gun conflicts. Nevertheless the best part of "Casino Royale" will be already an approximately 10-minute free running sequence chereographed by Sébastien Foucan in which the feeling of handmade live-action stunts becomes evident recovering from the digitally overloaded "Die Another Day" (2002).The supporting cast as actress Eva Green, performing the character of Vesper Lynd with James Bond-encountering convinctions and Dame Judi Dench reprising the character of 007-superior "M" for the fifth time building a balanced chemistry with actor Daniel Craig for future installments to come.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

​Plot Overview: After foiling the plot of a bomber, MI6 discovers it was the word of Le Chifre(Mads Mikkelsen), a notorious banker for criminals, who set it up. They send newly appointed 00 agent, Jame Bond(Daniel Craig) to beat Le Chifre in a game of poker at Casino Royale.Directed by Martin CampbellStarring Daniel Craig, Mads Mikkelssen and Eva Green# NO SPOILERS!Overall: This movie is arguable the best Bond movie in years and stands on a pedestal of one of the best ever. It's a fun action movie, it a great thriller, the stakes feel real, it's a brilliant take on the famous character. Three things are needed for a good bond movie: Good Bond girl, good Bond car and good Bond villain. This movie smashes each of these out of the park and makes an inventive, unique and most importantly entertaining re imagining of the world's most famous spy, and introduces him back into the modern world.The type of people who will like this movie will probably be long time fans of the franchise, people who wanted something new in the franchise and fans of great, kind of grounded action accompanied by an intriguing narrative. Would Recommend.# POSSIBLE SPOILERS!Daniel Craig was amazing as James Bond and gave a new and refreshing take on the character which was needed. He kept the best qualities of Bond while also adding his unique spin on the character to make his version go down with the greats. Mads Mikkelsen was extraordinary as the cunning and intriguing Le Chiffre, and made the character one of my favourite Bond villains. Eva Green was good as Vesper Lynd and provided a great Bond girl who had an actual role in the full plot. Judi Dench was phenomenal as 'M'. Giancarlo Gianni was good as Mathis. The story was surprisingly interesting and had enough substance to make it more than just a thread designed to keep a string of set pieces together. I think that the third act was pretty lazy and it could have been shortened down.The cinematography was fine for the most part but the opening sequence in black and white was gorgeous and delivered arguably the most inventive spin on the 'Bond shoots camera' trope to date.This movie provided a fresh and inventive take on such a beloved character, leaving just enough for fans to enjoy and changing just enough to gather new fans. The action scenes were excellent and the set pieces were just as good with the opening parkour sequence being up there with my favourite openings in the franchise. Provided a great Bond girl, car and villain. Three pieces that make the entire puzzle come together in one neat Bondifed package. Craig's take on the Martini line may be my favourite thing in this movie just because it shows they are changing the franchise and also leaves enough nostalgia for fans to cling to. Well that and it is absolutely hilarious. The opening credits were amazing as well as the opening 'Bond shoots audience' trope. This movie definitely has one of the least interesting Bond songs just because it isn't memorable in any way. It's very dull and I guarantee that, without searching for it, you can't name the song and hum any part of it; it's that dull. Personally, I adore this movie and it stands as one of my all time favourite Bond movies, and one of my favourite action movies of the 2000s.9/10