My Favourite Movies: Casino Royale

I am one of those slightly odd people who has seen every James Bond film – and, I think, read all of the original Ian Fleming books. In fact I watched all of the Sean Connery Bond movies again over the Christmas break. To me Connery was always Bond – cool but deadly. Of course I hated the Roger Moore movies. After Moore left the new Bonds where OK and occasionally good in parts but it wasn’t until Daniel Craig took over as 007 that I perked up and enjoyed watching Bond again. Here we have a Bond as he’s largely portrayed in the original novels. He’s a bastard but he’s our bastard who will kill anyone in order to get the job done and serve British interests.

Craig plays this angle superbly. He’s arrogant because he’s very good at what he does. He’s hard as nails and ruthless with it. Yet he still has his playful side and his sensitive side too – as shown in his brief relationship with Vesper Lynd played by the absolutely gorgeous Eva Green. Their verbal sparing on the Eurostar was a delight to watch and their developing relationship in the movie one of its highlights. Of course people come to Bond movies for action above all else and there was plenty of it in this film. From the jaw dropping ‘free running’ chase in the opening sequence to the chase across Miami airport this was Bond-style action at its best. Craig manages the action scenes with ease though, like his alter-ego Jason Bourne, he does not come away unscathed often showing the cuts, bruises and scars from previous encounters. Bond, for me at least, is all about fast thinking, fast physical action and is all about one man using his skill and training to survive and win against great odds. It’s not about high-tech gimmicks and silly gadgets. The new Bond largely goes back to its roots here by keeping the technology to an acceptable minimum or at least having the good taste to keep most of it hidden away. Out in the field Bond is on his own and will succeed or die on the strength of his skills and his own resources. The cavalry only arrive – if they do arrive – after the dust has already begun to settle. Bond is above all else a tale of one man facing great danger alone. Casino Royale brought Bond back in focus for me and I look forward to future outings with Craig as 007 – if any more get made that is.