Having earned his stripes as a 00, the new James Bond (Daniel Craig) heads to Montenegro to take part in a high stake poker game. Sitting at the table is Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker to the world’s terrorists. With finance ministry official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) holding on to the $10 million buy-in, Bond needs to beat the steel-eyed money man, who himself cannot afford to lose.
It’s Bond, James Bond. So Casino Royale is no simple game sitting around a poker table. Craig injects new life and sex appeal as he moves between London, Nassau, Venice and Montenegro and the body count mounts. Whilst M (Judi Dench) remains in London concerned she may have promoted the new Bond too soon, car chases, seduction, (the iconic) sinking building and twists galore ensure that the Martin Campbell-directed thriller delivers the high-expectations placed on Daniel Craig as the new Bond.
Rating: 72%
Director: Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, GoldenEye)
Writer: Neal Purvis (Die Another Day, Let Him Have It), Robert Wade (Die Another Day, Let Him Have It), Paul Haggis (Crash, Flags of Our Fathers) – based on the novel by Ian Fleming
Main cast: Daniel Craig (Knives Out, Defiance), Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round, The Hunt), Eva Green (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Golden Compass)
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