The real star is the freerunner Sébastien Foucan, quite possibly the eighth wonder of the world. It works brilliantly in establishing Craig as impossibly tough and implacable – two red lights shine behind his eyes. The parkour chase, like much of what is good about Casino Royale(including the film as a whole), overstays its welcome. No need to grandstand – just watch us work. Like its star, the pre-credits is all sparse confidence and sinew. The interspersed toilet fight pads out the scene and introduces the brute force of the new Bond. Little actually happens Bond surprises a double agent in his office, a few words are exchanged, and then the traitor is abruptly executed. The black and white opening is a masterstroke immediately dragging the audience into uncharted territory. Nothing’s perfect but there’s very, very little about this section I would change (although serious poker players might disagree). From the shot of the train snaking through the forest to Le Chiffre falling lifeless to the floor, the quality is so high you practically get vertigo. The second section of Casino Royale is quite possibly the best Bond film ever made. The Plane is exhilarating but uneven, flitting from parkour in Madagascar to the Bahamas before climaxing at a Miami airport (indeed you could argue the Madagascar segment is the fourth short film but let’s try and keep things as tidy as possible). Read more: Ranking the James Bond Villains

Hence the effect is less beginning, middle, end, more Film 1, Film 2, Film 3. Each reaches their own mini-climax, each is essentially self-contained only Bond, and later Vesper, figure prominently in any two. The quality and indeed the fabric of these three sections vary remarkably. Casino Royale is not one film but three: let’s christen them The Plane, Poker, and Venice.

But here the film is right and I am wrong.īefore we get stuck in, let me share a theory.

His snivelling before the angry African dictator is refreshing for a villain, although I admit I prefer my baddies to have a bit more bottle. Starkly, almost cruelly handsome, a milky blind eye and a gaze colder than midnight frost – he plays Le Chiffre as a human shark. Mads Mikkelsen has the Christopher Walken that guy just looks bad. His rivalry with Bond perfectly complements the Vesper romance. Weeping blood is a bit “how can we make this guy more evil?” but otherwise the character shines. The Villain: Le Chiffre isn’t quite a classic villain (killed off too early) but I make him the best of the Craig era and perhaps of the Brosnan era too.

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