Martin Campbell's outstanding James Bond reboot Casino Royale completely changed the complexion of the series: it boasted more grounded, realistic action and a gritty, visceral tone, as well as a villain who was less-cartoonish and more believable in the real world. Though he ended up paling in comparison to Javier Bardem's Raoul Silva in Skyfall, Mads Mikkelsen gave a splendidly sinister performance as Le Chiffre, a terrorist financier who sets up a high-stakes cards tournament to try and win back some of his failed investments after Bond foiled his last terrorist attack (Chiffre would attack major companies and short-sell their stock to make massive profit). What's really compelling and unique here is that Le Chiffre himself doesn't just have to worry about Bond, but at this point he's also massively in debt to his terrorist clients, and the card game is really his last chance. When things don't go his way, Le Chiffre has Bond poisoned and kidnaps Vesper Lynd, but just as he's rather brutally torturing Bond, the mysterious Mr. White interrupts and shoots Le Chiffre dead. Unexpected and completely different from how we expect a Bond villain to bow out, this was just another way that Casino Royale reinvented and subverted all that came before.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
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