Casino Royale

A smart, cleverly directed, and uncluttered action film that can boast an incredibly charismatic lead actor. The new Bond is in no way a polished charmer like Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan, but an agent of the special service sharp as a razor, whose face is covered with scars from top to bottom and a drop of blood is also visible every moment. Although it is a Bond film, Casino Royale bears by far the fewest trademarks referring to that famous British spy. Instead, we can watch an excellent action film rather than a continuation of the legendary franchise. Martin Campbell, in addition to his assured direction, also did away with lot of legends, myths, and established Bond traditions (wisecracks, women, etc.), and the result? James Bond can fall in love. And the best part is, you can actually believe him. The opening action in Madagascar is exhilarating and I haven't seen anything so gripping in a long time. Eva Green? Stunning. One of the best and most original Bond films. (21/11/2006)

It was a terrible blow at the time. After four adventures with the elegant Brosnan, the tough guy Craig came, an uncompromising sharpshooter, a bleeding brawler, a tormented sarcastic, and a rough mountain of secret agent potential. In front of his charisma, out of respect, I almost hid under the seat, but he didn't fit my previous perception of the Bond brand. The dry lines remained, the technical toys gave way to dirty action, and it was only after a long 14 years since the premiere that I finally realized, during a specific "regeneration" revision, how perfectly balanced the Montenegrin card spectacle turned out to be. From the black and white intro to the Italian shot. (05/12/2006)

After "Bond" (Connery), "Strange Bond" (Lazenby), "Funny Bond" (Moore), "Rambo Bond" (Dalton) and "Mixed Bond" (Brosnan), here's another guy. Daniel Craig - "Rough Pissed Off Bond". Casino Royale is a gripping film that will keep you interested from start to finish. The "crane and all that" scene is one of the most bombastic action spectacles I've ever seen in a movie theater, and clearly the best of the entire film. But the rest of the Casino is not far behind. For example, I would never have believed that it is possible to film poker games in a thrilling and entertaining way. The new generation Bond did not disappoint - Craig is likable, he is human and not a machine seducing busty nymphs, he is tough as nails and entertaining. Great! (28/08/2009)

After some time, and after watching a rerun, I began to like this 21st Bond film. I also like Eva Green thanks to Dark Shadows and I'm taking more and more to Mads Mikkelsen thanks to A Royal Affair. They have a nice interchange at the Casino, Mads has a very tasty villain with a bleeding eye and Eva is a different kind of beauty than the ones James has been dating. The plot is good, the scenery pleasing to the eye, the action and humor just right, and of course the flawless final point. I certainly enjoyed that. (27/08/2012)

Or: When James walks in Jason’s footsteps... The black-and-white prolog and the first scene after the opening credits sets the bar high, but unfortunately the creators didn’t manage even to come near it for the rest of the movie. The new Bond is not lacking atmosphere, a good technical side and ingenious action. But what it is lacking is a better screenplay to hold everything together better and more balanced pacing. (21/04/2022)