Casino Royal

Casino Royal is the 21st James Bond film, however, chronologically, it is the first. It takes place before the first Bond film, Dr. No, and yet it references 9/11, and the characters have cell phones and other things that make it out to be a 21st century film. Daniel Craig takes on the role of James Bond for the first time. The shoes of Bond are huge ones to fill, but Craig takes on the role with great intensity and is very successful at becoming the beloved character. That being said, it is still a little strange to see a new face as the familiar character. Casino Royale shows how James Bond became 007, and his first mission for MI6 as a Double 0 agent. Bond must join a high-stakes poker tournament at the Casino Royale, to stop an evil banker (Mads Mikkelsen) from winning the large prize money and using it to fund terrorist activities. Eva Green plays the main Bond Girl in Casino Royale, Vesper Lynd. Lynd is an agent from the HM Treasury who is assigned to keep an eye on Bond and manage his funds. Although disappointing to see no Q gadgets or big climatic showdown against the villain, the film proves it still to be a Bond movie with heart-pumping action sequences, harrowing car chases, and beautiful women. There certainly are some amazing action scenes in Casino Royale. Most notably the mind-blowing chase scene with the free-running African and the fight in the building in the city of Venice. Daniel Craig is not the best Bond. Connery will always have that status. But Craig takes a solid second behind him. Daniel Craig is the next Bond, and it appears that he is here to stay.

★★★★1/2 of ★★★★★