"Casino Royale" Tells Story of Bond's Beginnings

Aside from Godzilla, no franchises are longer-lived than James Bond. While the 21 films devoted to Bond lose out to Godzilla's 22, the number is still staggering. Unfortunately, the quality of the films has been steadily decreasing in recent years, due to world-changing conspiracies and increased gadgetry. Thankfully, this trend is reversed in "Casino Royale," which introduces a startlingly human Bond, both in abilities and in personality.

The movie chronicles 007's early history. It begins with his first two kills, required for double-0 status, and continues on to the story that cements his status as an agent.

After the opening credits, which were thankfully well done, we get shown a transfer of millions of dollars to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), an asthmatic, almost albino underground banker for world terrorism. He exudes an air of slimy-ness along with the sweat that constantly covers his brow. After this, we're immediately shoved into a seemingly unrelated chase through a construction site in Africa. Bond (Daniel Craig) and the bomb-maker that he's chasing jump up, down and through buildings in a scene surprisingly devoid of trickery. It's skill against skill alone, ending with Bond killing his target inside of an embassy.

This action characterizes the new Bond perfectly. As M, the leader of MI6 (Judi Dench), says, he violated the sanctuary of an embassy (on tape, no less) because of his ego, something the more suave Bond of Brosnan would never have done. Our new James makes plenty of mistakes throughout the film.

Even so, he manages to follow the trail from the bomb-maker up to Le Chiffre, eventually foiling an act of terrorism against a business, and as a result, an investment that he had made. This financial loss creates a desperate situation for Le Chiffre, who organizes a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale in Montenegro.

Bond, of course, travels to Montenegro to join the competition. On the way, he meets Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), a Treasury Agent assigned to watch over the $10 million buy-in required. Lynd is the quintessential Bond girl, gorgeous, stand-offish and with her own agenda.

The game proceeds, at every turn unveiling the battle between ego and talent that rages inside Mr. Bond, he and Lynd become more and more entangled with each other. When he emerges victorious, it is through her that his enemies endeavor to recover the lost money.

Even though the plot continues beyond this point, the meat of the movie is in the evolution of Bond himself. We smile at his growing pains, at the rental Ford that he drives as the first car in the film and at the flashes of temper and audaciousness that he displays. On the other hand, we also watch his smiles become appropriately rye as he learns the rules of the international spy game, with the accompanying hardening of his personal armor until he manages to refer to Lynd as a "bitch."

Overall, the film gives us humanity, though mixed in with the inhuman accomplishments that pervade any Bond movie. It's worth your two dollars.