Casino Royale (2006)

Directed by Martin Campbell. Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Giancarlo Giannini, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Caterina Murino, Simon Abkarian, Isaach de Bankolé, Jesper Christensen, Tobias Menzies, Claudio Santamaria, Ludger Pistor, Ivana Miličević, Sébastien Foucan. [PG-13]

The 007 franchise returns to its roots by finally bringing Ian Fleming’s original James Bond novel into the canonical fold (it was previously the subject of an over-the-top 1967 spoof film). Craig makes a formidable debut as the British spy, fresh off earning his double-0 status with a pair of kills, and assigned to compete in a high-stakes Montenegro poker game against Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), a villain who will use the winnings to finance terrorist activities in order to manipulate international stock markets. A fresh, edgy, hard-hitting action yarn that refocuses the analysis of its cold, inexperienced, and deeply flawed protagonist, taking the time to develop a meaningful connection between him and treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Green), expose his vulnerabilities, and then give him cause to calcify. Front-loaded with muscular, heart-racing action sequences, but even when it slows down in the second hour, there’s never a dull moment (even as credibility is thrown out the window when the cards are dealt into a series of improbable showdowns), hitting the home stretch with a brutal torture scene, a surrender to passion and relief, a bleak revelation, and a thunderous finale in Venice. The unconventional structure that leads to the coda/reversal is to be commended for breaking from the predictable formula, but the closing section does suffer from the lack of a meaningful antagonistic presence. The overall story arc continues with Quantum of Solace, making this the rare outing in the long-running franchise to have a direct sequel, and setting the stage for Craig’s serialized tenure in the role.

89/100