Casino Royale
Martin Campbell
United Kingdom
For the 21st Bond film based on Ian Fleming’s infamous MI6 secret agent, Daniel Craig was selected to play Agent 007. Casino Royale marked the first film for Craig as James Bond, and a much needed “reboot” of the entire series. For a fresh start on the Bond character, the film turned to Fleming’s first novel in the 007 series, Casino Royale. As the series of Bond moives has spanned across 3 decades, the films have gathered many die hard followers. The decision to cast Craig, and portray a fresh-faced and much more vulnerable James Bond, was risky. But the lucrative payoff of this decision is proof that simply adding a new twist to an old formula can breathe new life into a successful film series.
The film opens with a black and white flashback of an intense fistfight, ending with Bond killing the man by gunfire; Bond’s first kill as an MI6 agent. Back in real time, Bond confronts MI6 agent Dryden with accusations of selling MI6 secrets. Needless to say, Bond outsmarts Dryden, shooting him dead. With his second kill, Bond obtains his infamous Double-O status, now forever known as Agent 007. With the transition from black and white to color, Director Martin Campbell has shown the birth of 007, and the dawn of new era in Bond films.
With his newfound status as 007, Bond starts out on the trail of his first villain, France’s world famous terrorist financier known as Le Chiffre. Following leads from a local bomb-maker in Madagascar onto an associate of Le Chiffre in the Bahamas, Bond travels the world to these exotic locations in search the man financing international terrorism. Along the way he manages to find fast cars and beautiful women; some things never change.
Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson) is the typical Bond villain, with a scar the size of his head and a laundry list of broken international laws. However, MI6 discovers that Le Chiffre has a weakness for gambling, as he enjoys putting his clients money on the line at high stakes poker tables. Instead of getting to Le Chiffre with the bullet, Bond takes his talents to the green felt tables. Her majesty’s government agrees to finance Bond in a high stakes no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament. Beating Le Chiffre at his own game will simultaneously bankrupt the terrorists and place a price tag on the Frenchmen’s head.
However, M’s healthy distrust of Bond’s reckless methods prompts her to assign the beautiful Vesper Lynd as a representative of her majesty’s treasury department. Vesper is tasked with monitoring Bond’s every move, and in time falls for his charm and charisma. However, Vesper is not alone in her feelings, as Bond allows himself to fall in love and in turn questions his future as a secret agent. As we know from five decades of films, Bond must set aside his personal desires for the good of the mission.
Described by M, the head of MI6, as “half monk/half hitman,” Bond once again straddles the line in Casino Royale. This time around, however, Craig introduces a vulnerability that has rarely been portrayed throughout the James Bond film series. By allowing himself to become emotionally involved with the endearing Vesper, Bond glimpses a future without fast cars and ugly villains. Following Bond’s first kill, M exclaims, “Just because you’ve done something, doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it.” The tragedy of the character of James Bond, is that we as an audience know what he must do, and what he will become. Still, the humanity found in Daniel Craig’s Bond is a welcomed addition to the story of 007, and one that will prolong the film series for years to come.
Rating: 8/10
-Joshua Albrent
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