7. René Mathis - Casino Royale
Storming on to our screens back in 2006, Casino Royale proved to the world that Bond could indeed be blonde. Daniel Craig's take on England's No.1 super-spy has become a fast favourite with many fans despite the initial hesitation towards the decision to give him 00 status. Daring stunts, beautiful women and high-stakes gambling; this was Bond back in his element. The film goes to painstaking lengths to make the central Poker game as tense as possible, with Bond and Le Chiffre clearly playing for much more than the money on the table. Although the deadly card game is the centrepiece of the whole narrative, we must remember that this was film intended for mass consumption and as such, by decree of Hollywood, needs to have a level of condescension towards its audience somewhere. Not everyone knows the rules to Poker and being that this is the case, fearing movie-goers everywhere would flee from the cinema in a confused panic they introduced René Mathis. The most important thing this character does, beyond the trite betrayal double-bluff tacked on the end of the film, is explain to Vesper Lynd and thus to the viewers what is happening at the Poker table. It gets to the point sometimes when you begin to wonder if you're watching a film about a globe-trotting secret agent or 'a beginner's guide to poker'. Mathis comes into his own in the next instalment, Quantum of Solace, before promptly being bumped off. He just couldn't seem to catch a break and unfortunately the only two uses for the character in Casino Royale are as a cheap Red Herring and a smartly dressed Poker announcer.
