I have finally seen Casino Royale after years of waiting. And I must say that I was blown away, right now I feel intensly happy and proud of being a Bond-fan.
With the first 20 Bond movies in mind I finally was going to see Daniel Craig's first Bondmovie. And wow how good it was. The short but intense opening scenes in Prague was excellent. Craig is shining as Bond already here. The transition from the pre-title sequence to gunbarrel to main titles was very good, and I had really no problems with that. Chris Cornell's song sounds excellent on top of the really nice main titles which is easily Kleinman's best. Very retrolooking and incoperating Craig in the titles is a very smart and goodlooking move. The following scenes with the Madagascar chase is epic, really epic. And it feels excellent that the scenes really were made with real stunts and real stuntmen. BUT when Craig sits down in the truck and behaves like a soulless Terminator I am afraid of a go-back to Brosnan's age. But luckily those worries disappears quickly.
The intense scene when M barks out at Bond is great as well. It really shows how damn good Judi Dench is as M, even though I still think M should be a man. But the mother-son relationship works well and I am looking forward to see it evolve further in the next Bond movie.
After this we see the first class location of Bahamas. Very since locations. Craig really shows here how Bondian he can be with his charms. When he charms Solange it feels very real and also like we are back at Sean Connery's days. Too bad that Caterina Murino is a terrible actress.
I get extremely happy next when we see some classic espionage scenes at the museum and the airport in Miami. Finally some real spying for the spy. The Bodyworlds locale is very very smart move and it feels very much Flemingian. Black humour there when Craig smacks Dimitrios on the cheek after stabbing him. Excellent!
The action scene at the airport is very very intense and I really bit my nails when Bond/Craig does his best to stop the terrorist attack. And succeeds!
After this first act of the movie which wasn't really that incohorent that many has said we get the second act. Which is the best thing about the movie. The atmosphere and tension between Daniel Craig and Eva Green is simply amazing. Probably the best tension captured on film since the great classic movies many years back. Eva Green's astonishing acting gets me a new favourite Bond-girl. She acts very natural and more like a real person. Nothing feels fake. And that she is extremely goodlooking makes it only better (you people here at the boards might have noticed my declaring of love to Eva Green
) The long cardplaying scenes are very well made. Something that easily could have become very very boring turns out to be very very exciting instead. Craig looks faboulous in the tux (or dinner jacket).The next fight scene in the stairwell, after a quite gut-wrenching threat scene with between Le Chiffre and Obanno, is good. Very good, and nicely done. Craig is rough and he bleeds for god's sakes. The Flemingian Bond is back!
The dirty martini scene follows the pattern of exciting and gut-wrenching as well and Craig's line: "Are you okay?" to Green caused laughter in the cinema, great
! And after some more cardplaying scenes we finally get to the infamous torture sequence. Ouch. It was very painful to watch. Oh my god, how good Craig was in this scene. And Mads Mikkelsen as well. And with blending in some humour in the scene it only gets better. Joking is the way of overcoming the pain of getting your nuts whacked, I'd guess.
The following scenes with a recovering Bond and the growing love between Bond and Vesper are probably the scenes that I to 110 % digs in this movie. It looks real, it looks cute and it is with a smile on your face you see Bond and Vesper fall in love. Which makes the final Venice scenes more tragic. I almost cried when Vesper took her life in drowning herself. Very very tragic and sad and still very well-done.
The movie ended ultra-cool with a sharp-dressed Bond shooting the kneecaps on Mr. White. And Craig's delivery of "The name's Bond, James Bond" is excellent. Not nervous or trembling like Brosnan's delivery of the line.
This movie is totally the best since the 60's I must say. It may not be better than From Russia With Love or Thunderball but it is not pretty far away. The only problem's I really have with this film is the fact that there are many plot-holes in the movie. But I have hope that these are explained in the next film.
The directing, the cinematography and the editing was the best thing with this movie if you see it from the tech-side. Finally a Bond movie that dares to do something different. And not in a bad way like it was with "Die Another Day".
The music is also great with some parts that sounds very John Barry. I love it to here "You Know My Name" being incoperated in the score. David Arnold has really found himself here. I have also found myself a new favourite Bond-song. "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell is really excellent. Masculine, heavy, epic and so bloody easliy listened.
The screenplay is very good as well. The dialogue is first-class and we finally get some character development. Something we really hasn't seen since a very long time in this franchaise. Too bad that it has plot-holes in some places.
The acting is perfect. This is probably the thing I am most happy with.
Daniel Craig is excellent as James Bond. He is even better than Sean Connery in many places. If he makes one movie being as good as this he is better than Connery. I wonder if it really was really good with that hate-site, I think it made him even more motivated of doing the most excellent Bond movie in a long time.
Eva Green is the best Bond-girl, hands down. Sorry Diana, Daniela and Claudine, but Eva is better. She feels so real. This is a Bond-girl with a personality and is more of an equal to Bond but not in a "Yo Mama, Kicking Bad Guys in the groin"-way.
Mads Mikkelsen is creepy as Le Chiffre. Very good actor as Mads is I think he could have gotten a little bit more to do. But he works in the movie. The torture scene and the scene where Obanno is threatening him and Valenka, Mads is perfect.
The other actors where perfectly casted as well. I am most happy with the casting of Ren
