Stubs - Casino Royale (2006)

Casino Royale (2006): Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench. Directed by Martin Campbell. Produced by Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli. Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis Based on the novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (London, 1953).Run Time: 148 min. Color, Germany, Czech Republic, Great Britain, and United States. Espionage, Drama, Action, Adventure

In 2006, after 22 films (counting two non-Eon produced films) and 40 years, the James Bond franchise did something it hadn’t done before, rebooted. Having run through all the Bond novels by 1995, GoldenEye is not based on a novel by Ian Fleming; it was time for something to happen.

Pierce Brosnan, the fifth actor to play Bond had retired from the franchise after four films: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002). Brosnan had helped to bring the franchise back from the dead, after a six-year hiatus. He knew that it was time for him to move on, which left a void.

Daniel Craig got the role after a search for an actor to play the iconic character. The Bond character is in many ways a relic of the Cold War and while each film up until now had built on the preceding one, the decision was made to update the franchise, change the timeline and, more importantly, to reboot.

This is actually the third time that the Casino Royale novel has been adapted. The first time was an American TV play with Barry Nelson playing an American: Bond, Jimmy Bond. There is also the comedic Casino Royale (1967), which attempted to spoof the book series. The latter I find to be nearly incoherent.

Principal photography commenced on January 3, 2006 at Barrandov Studios in Prague with additional location shooting in The Bahamas, the U.S., Italy, and the United Kingdom. Production ended on July 20, 2006 at Pinewood Studios.

The film opens in Africa, where Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) is there to convince a warlord, Steven Obanno (Isaac de Bankolé), to let Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) handle his finances. Le Chiffre is a banker known for handling finances for terrorists like Obanno’ s Lord's Resistance Army and promises to make the funds available anywhere in the world. Obanno, who wants his money invested with low risk, agrees. Le Chiffre's investment strategy involves short-selling stocks in successful companies using his clients' money and then engineering terrorist attacks to sink their share prices, creating huge profits for himself.

James Bond (Daniel Craig) fights Fisher (Darwin Shaw) in a men’s room.

We are then introduced to Dryden (Malcolm Sinclair), a corrupt MI6 section chief, in Prague, who has been selling classified information. Unbeknownst to him, James Bond (Daniel Craig) is waiting for him in his office. Dryden, who doesn’t plan to go down without a fight, engages Bond in conversation. Perhaps a bad choice of topics: killing, as Bond recounts the intense fight with Dryden’s contact, Fisher (Darwin Shaw) in a men’s room. Dryden, who has a gun at the ready, tells Bond that he is only one killing away from reaching double O status. And Bond kills him to prove the second one is easier than the first.

Bond pursues Mollaka (Sébastien Foucan).

Now designated 007, Bond travels to Madagascar to pursue Mollaka (Sébastien Foucan). The agent helping Bond blows his cover and Bond is left to run after Mollaka, who parkours his way through a construction site. Bond is no slouch when it comes to the muscles, but he also uses his brain to keep close to Mollaka. Mollaka runs to hide in an embassy, but Bond goes over the wall to get in, tracking Mollaka down quite easily.

But Mollaka doesn’t want to go quietly and embassy guards don’t like Bond invading their country (embassy grounds are considered the territory of the sovereign nation they represent). Cornered, Bond kills Mollaka and blows a big hole in the Embassy, making his escape with the backpack Mollaka has been carrying.

As soon as he can, Bond goes through the contents, which include a pipe bomb, but also a cell phone with a text message from Alex Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian), a known associate of Le Chiffre.

Back in London, Bond meets with M (Judi Dench).

Bond is brought back to London, where M (Judi Dench) wonders if they’ve been too quick to make him a double O agent. He was supposed to bring Mollaka back alive so they could find out who was hiring him. While Bond’s actions might have prevented one explosion from happening, he doesn’t yet understand the big picture.

Bond in the Bahamas.

M tells him to go to a beach somewhere while she thinks about what to do with him and Bond opts to go to the Bahamas to follow up on Dimitrios, who is relatively easy to find. Bond, we will learn, is quite an excellent poker player and manages to win away not only Dimitrios’ Aston Martin, but also seduces his wife, Solange (Caterina Murino).

Bond seduces Solange (Caterina Murino).

When Bond goes out to retrieve his new car, Solange, thinking he’s her husband, gets in. Since Dimitrios is not the most loving of men, Solange agrees to have a drink with Bond back at his place. While they are getting passionate on the floor, Solange’s phone rings. She tells Bond that it was her husband, who is taking the last flight to Miami.

Bond leaves Solange in his room and goes chasing after Dimitrios. After chasing him down to a Body Worlds exhibit, Dimitrios leaves a piece of carryon luggage at baggage check-in and then leaves the brass tag with the number on a pile of poker chips in the depicted card game. He then pulls a knife on Bond, but by the time he has overpowered and killed Dimitrios, the medallion is gone and the carryon has been claimed. But using Dimitrios’ cell phone to call him, Bond locks in on Carlos (Claudio Santamaria), who has the bag and is heading for the airport.

Carlos manages to give Bond the slip long enough to change into a security uniform. Creating a diversion with the smoke alarm, Carlos manages to get out onto the tarmac. Bond follows close behind. Carlos kills a man fueling a plane and steals the truck loaded with fuel. His plan is to blow up a small bomb in the truck, igniting the fuel and destroying the prototype Skyfleet airliner being presented to the world later in the day. Bond manages to foil the plot and Carlos ends up blowing himself up.

This upsets Le Chiffre’s investment strategy, so instead of a huge profit, he’s now lost $100 million of his terrorist client’s money. As revenge for unintentionally revealing his plan to Bond, Solange is tortured and murdered. M meets with Bond in the Bahamas and tells him that Le Chiffre, who fancies himself a poker wiz, has set up a high-stakes winner-take-all Texas hold ‘em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro to try to win back his losses.

Hoping that if they can wipe him out, they can force Le Chiffre to help the British government in exchange for protection from his angry clients, MI6 enters Bond in the tournament, which has a $10 million buy-in.

On the train, Bond meets Vesper Lynd (Eva Green).

On the train to Montenegro, Bond meets Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), a British Treasury agent whose role is to protect the government's interests, specifically the $10 million, and to determine if they should authorize the $5 million reserve, allowed by the rules of the game, to be used. Vesper at the time is immune to Bond’s charms.

Bond meets MI6 contact, René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini).

In Montenegro, Bond and Vesper meet the local MI6 contact, René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), who arranges to have the Chief of Police, an ally of Le Chiffre’s, arrested.

The poker tournament in Casino Royale (2006).

Before the tournament starts, Mendel (Ludger Pistor), a Swiss banker, introduces himself. He will be responsible for all monetary transactions during and after the poker tournament and requires all ten participants to set up their own accounts to aid in dispersing the winnings.

Le Chiffre's girlfriend Valenka (Ivana Miličević).

During a break from the play, Le Chiffre and his girlfriend Valenka (Ivana Miličević) are attacked in their hotel room by Obanno and one of his henchmen. Obanno is upset about his money being lost. He leaves Le Chiffre after threatening to cut off Valenka’s arm as retribution. Obanno notices Bond and comes after him. They fight in a stairwell, with Bond being wounded by prevailing.

Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) has a tell.

Thinking he knows Le Chiffre’s tell, Bond bets heavy and loses his initial stake on a misplayed hand. Vesper refuses to give him $5 million to continue playing. Frustrated by his failure, Bond resolves to kill Le Chiffre. But before he can, a fellow player, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), reveals himself as a CIA agent. Leiter, who is rapidly losing his stake, offers to stake Bond in exchange for turning Le Chiffre over to the Americans. Bond agrees and is back in the game.

Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) reveals himself as a CIA agent to Bond.

Bond is a great player and rapidly re-establishes his pot. Le Chiffre attempts to kill Bond by having his girlfriend Valenka poison Bond's drink. Bond realizes that he’s dying and runs to his souped-up car, an Aston Martin. He contacts HQ and is walked through the steps to save his life. However, the defibrillator in the car malfunctions and Bond passes out before he can fix it. He is saved when Vesper, who has followed him, reconnects the wires.

Vesper arrives just in time to save Bond's life.

Miraculously, Bond returns and wins the tournament, and the winnings are deposited into a Swiss bank account. During a celebratory drink, Vesper is called away by Mathis.

Bond swerves to avoid Vesper, who is lying in the road.

Bond thinks that to be odd and follows, watching as Vesper is kidnapped. Bond takes chase. When Vesper is left in his path, Bond swerves to miss, becomes airborne, and crashes.

LeChiffre tortures Bond for the bank account's password.

Vesper has been taken as bait to capture Bond. Le Chiffre then tortures Bond for the bank account's password. I won’t describe the torture, but most men would find it unbearable. Le Chiffre is interrupted by Mr. White, who kills Le Chiffre for being untrustworthy.

Mendel (Ludger Pistor) shows up in Lake Como to set up an account.

Bond is spared and wakes up in a hospital on Lake Como and has Mathis, whom Le Chiffre identified as a double agent, arrested. Bond admits to Vesper that he is in love with her and she reciprocates. Mendel shows up and Bond has Vesper, who has set up the account number, also type in the password, which he created, V-E-S-P-E-R. The two then set off on a sailing trip and on their way to Venice, Bond posts his resignation to M.

Vesper and Bond end up in Venice.

In Venice, the two plan their next move. When Vesper leaves to go to the bank, Bond receives a call from M. She has gotten his resignation, but the bigger issue is that the Treasury is concerned that the winnings have never been deposited in the Treasury's account. Realizing that Vesper had stolen the winnings, he pursues her. He watches as she meets two men to whom she gives the money. They see Bond is following them and take Vesper into a building that is under renovation.

Bond tries but fails to resuscitate Vesper.

A devastating firefight ensues and the inflatable supports holding the building above water are punctured. Bond manages to kill the men and tries to rescue Vesper, who has become trapped in an elevator, which has fallen below the waterline as the building around it sinks. She locks herself in and allows herself to drown, even as Bond tries to save her. Pulling her up to the rooftop, Bond tries in vain to resuscitate her, but fails. Mr. White, watching from a nearby balcony, walks away with the money.

Bond, with nowhere to turn, rejoins MI6. M tells him why Vesper did what she did. She had a French-Algerian boyfriend who was kidnapped by the organization behind Le Chiffre and they used the boyfriend to blackmail her into cooperating. She also informs Bond that Vesper only agreed to deliver the winnings in exchange for Bond's life.

Bond then discovers a text from Vesper with White's name and mobile phone number.

"The name's Bond - James Bond."

The film ends with White returning to his remote mansion. His phone rings and it is Bond on the phone saying they need to meet. White is then shot in the leg. He crawls to the front steps of his house, but Bond is there. He introduces himself to White with the famous: "The name's Bond - James Bond."

When it was released, Casino Royale was a big hit. The film was the fourth highest-grossing film released in 2006, making just under $600 million in worldwide box office. It was also the highest-grossing Bond film to date.

Since the film reboots the Bond story, it shows us something the franchise had not done before. While not quite an origin story, Casino Royale tries to show a Bond who is not as cool and calculating as the one we’ve come to know and love. We’re told how one becomes a double O agent; they’re required to have two kills. While I am not a Bond aficionado, this sounds like something made up by the screenwriters, since double O’s are supposed to have a licence to kill (British spelling).

While Bond makes rookie mistakes, like breaking into M’s residence, he doesn’t really seem to be green. We have no idea how he knows what he knows or really what his pre-double O duties were. Obviously, he’s been given a license to kill Dryden and his accomplice, so are the killings an initiation ritual?

This Bond gets flustered, not even caring if his martini is shaken or stirred. Connery’s Bond, which I and so many others consider to be the definitive, would not let losing millions of dollars bother him. He was always in control or acted like he was. This new Bond hasn’t yet learned not to sweat the details.

It is interesting, while Casino Royale is a reboot of sorts, the other main characters aren’t younger versions of the ones we’d seen in previous films. Judi Dench, who had been M in the Pierce Brosnan Bond films, continues to play the part. I’m not sure if this is the case of she had been contracted to be M in so many films or what, but Dench is good in the role. It just seems a little odd that her role wouldn’t have also been rebooted, in case, I don’t know, someone had been watching the proceeding 20 or so films.

Missing from this film are such Bond Cinematic Universe staples as Moneypenny and Q. Moneypenny, which had been a staple of the franchise up until this film, would return in Skyfall (2012). Q, which had been played by Desmond Llewelyn for so many years, is also absent. That character also wouldn’t return until Skyfall. These are characters that added a certain charm to the franchise that seems to be missing in the reboot.

There are clear nods to the past, as Bond is reunited with a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 pretty much earlier on in the film and ends up driving a current model later on. Bond seemed to have lost its way, as the Pierce Brosnan Bond started driving a BMW as part of a product placement arrangement.

Product placement is alive and well in this film as well. In this case, Sony, which had led a consortium to buy Bond’s home studio, MGM, managed to prominently place their products wherever they could. Bond uses a Vaio laptop to send his retirement email and everyone uses a Sony-Ericsson cell phone, villains and heroes alike.

While the film keeps many of the same characters and plot points from the original novel, there are changes to modernize the story. SMERSH, the secret agency behind Le Chiffre in the novel, is replaced by the enigmatic Mr. White, who works for some unnamed criminal organization that seems to have intelligence and reach that even the CIA would envy.

There are some troubles with the screenplay; the most notable is that it relies on an exposition dump by M at the end to explain Vesper’s actions. Worse is that M seems to know things she couldn’t have known, like Vesper’s deal with Mr. White to save Bond’s life. Unless she’s talked to her in a séance, all those involved in the deal are either dead or in hiding. The book used a suicide note to explain things to Bond and Vesper could have left a note behind for him to find when she went off to the bank.

For a screenplay with three writers, there are some odd glitches. I’m sure they needed a device to represent the 1964 Aston Martin Alex Dimitrios is using as table stakes in his game with Bond. The keys made an obvious choice, but upon winning the car, Bond asks for the valet ticket. Wouldn’t they have the keys? Does Dimitrios carry two sets with him at all times? It’s a little detail for sure, but one that made me ask these questions rather than follow along with the plot. Surely these writers had let a valet park their car before.

Also, I give Bond a lot of credit for being able to track down Mr. White (most likely a pseudonym) to some remote villa from a cell phone number and a name. He’s also able to pull up things on the internet that I’d never been able to find. Then again, I have trouble keeping my Bluetooth connection going in my own house, but Bond can send an email from onboard a sailboat on the Mediterranean Sea outside Venice.

One of the nice things about the film is that they didn’t rely on CGI the way they had in previous films. I think everyone involved was left with a bad taste in their mouths after Die Another Day (2002) and the horrible special effect of Bond riding a wave into shore. The producers this time around vowed to do the stunts the old-fashioned way, so when you see a car flying through the air, that is what is really happening. It makes the film more exciting.

The movie has a pretty involved plot that almost requires the viewer to have an understanding of the stock market and knowledge of the rules of Texas hold 'em to fully appreciate. You have to gloss over things the film does not bother to explain.

All said though, the film is pretty good; a gritty reboot for a franchise that had grown a little stale and out of touch over the years. This move was probably overdue. As far as Bonds go, Craig is no Connery, the standard-bearer. But his physicality and reliance on muscle rather than strategy is probably to be expected in a raw agent.

While I would still recommend other Bond films over this one, Casino Royale is a pretty good action thriller. If you like your Bond musclebound rather than sophisticated, then this would be a good jumping-on point for the storyline.