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.