Rookie Bond

Movie Review

Title:
Casino Royale

Director:
Martin Campbell:

Casts:
Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judy Dench, Jeffrey Wright

Writing Credits:
Neil Purvis, Robert Wade

I'm not much of a Bond fan. All I know about James Bond are: James Bond ("Name's Bond. James Bond."), 007, Vodka Martini (shaken but not stirred), Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, fancy cars (with lots of fancy sci-fi gadgets and functions inside them), fancy watches (same case as the cars), tuxedos (with bow tie), guns, hot women, and an abundant opportunities to market exclusive and albeit expensive merchandise (hint: fancy watches, fancy cars). Come to think of it, that's quite a lot. But I haven't gotten around to seeing most of James Bond movies. So, once again, I can't say that I'm much of a Bond fan.

But I did get to see some of James Bond movie. And from the movies that I did see, I could conclude that James Bond is...inhuman. I rarely see any other emotions on his face except for self-confidence and sometimes, amusement. I could never really sympathize with the guy. He seems distant, doesn't care much about anything, and never willing to reveal himself (Am I starting to sound like a disgruntled girlfriend?) And he seems hell bent on destroying every fancy cars and equipments that he could get his hands on. I don't know, maybe it's just that I have never read any of Ian Fleming's book on James Bond so that I don't know his character well enough. So, at one point in time, I surmise that people go to see a Bond movie for the fancy cars, fancy watches, and (for the guys) hot women. It's not exactly a bad thing, but to me it seems that any James Bond movie is going to be just another action movie. Exciting, fun, but rather shallow (what kind of an agent/spy goes around telling his real name?).

However, Martin Campbell managed to create another Bond movie with a different twist in it. For the guys, don't worry, there are still hot ladies in it. You want fancy cars? You got it. Fancy watches? Check. But gone are the sci-fi-flavored gadgets and machineries. The cars are still fancy, but they don't shoot missiles. The watches are just watches. They don't cut through ropes or chains.

But the biggest difference in Casino Royale is none other than Bond himself. Gone is the self-confidence, gone is the silky-smooth yet brutal style of the famous British agent, gone is the 'shaken but not stirred' attitude we have come to know about James Bond. This time around, Bond is ruthless. His methods are reckless and brutal. Daniel Craig plays a Bond who shows a lot of raw emotions and the movie really shows you how much of a 'rookie' Bond is at that time ("Vodka Martini, shaken or stirred?" "Do I look like I give a damn?"). However, this is after all, one of James Bond's first missions, when he'd just received his '007' status. As the movie progresses, it will show you some of the reasons why Bond became the Bond that most of us know. Personally, I kind of like Casino Royale's Bond, due to his showing more emotions. It's kind of like this James Bond is an entirely different person than the James Bond that we come to know so far. I would go so far as to say it's almost as if this movie is not a Bond movie.

Daniel Craig is really good in portraying an agent who still has a lot of rough edges to be smoothed out. But, behind all those brutality and recklessness you could almost sense that this is the man that will one day become the confident man that James Bond is. For those who has doubts about him, rest assure that he delivered a convincing performance. I would like to see him play the 'confident' Bond and see how he fares. It should be interesting.

Another thing worth mentioning is the action sequences. I really can't say much (I don't want to spoil the fun for those who have not yet seen the movie) except that these action sequences deserves a two-thumbs-up. Especially the chase scenes. They will keep you at the edge of your seats. And surprisingly, the story is quite good. Coming from someone who thinks that the previous Bond movies are slightly on the shallow side when it comes to the stories, it's quite something. That is partly due to the fact that they didn't use any fancy, sci-fi, gadgets to spice up the actions and mostly to some serious character buildings.

To summarize, this is the most un-Bond James Bond movie that I have ever seen. And that is a good thing. If you like seeing movies such as Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy, you will definitely love this movie. You will see a real person, an agent, with fears and flaws and not some cool and confident chap in a tuxedo waving his gun around just trying to look cool. And fear not, Bond fans, for you will see a lot of things Bond in this movie that you will not feel betrayed. A definite must see for any Bond fans, and any action movie afficionados.