Casino Royale

Year Released: 2006

Runtime: 144 minutes

Directed: Martin Campbell

Produced: Barbara Broccoli, Callum McDougall, Anthony Waye

Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright

Oscars: No wins or nominations, but it won a BAFTA for Sound and was nominated for 7 more which is something, I guess

IMDb Plot Summary: After earning 00 status and a license to kill, Secret Agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker who is funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.

Context, Context, Context: What Created Casino Royale, and Why it’s Still Relevant

Bond does gritty reboot. The long-running, record-breaking, historically significant, and widely loved James Bond series, that began in 1962, had become synonymous with a little too much silliness and reliance on increasingly cartoonish action and villains. As actors took turns portraying Bond, sometimes returning multiple times, there was never much connection from film to film, or attempt to give an “origin story” for the character. Just prior to Craig stepping into the role for this film, Die Another Day was largely panned by critics for its over-reliance on CGI and lack of originality. This combination, as well as the success and approach of Nolan’s Batman Begins, inspired the Broccoli family with the opportunity to reboot the Bond franchise in a new way. Transitioning actors and releasing a new film 4 years after the previous one allows enough breathing room to reshape what Bond is and can be, as well as build up a truly continuous story based around this new actor. The production and writing team decided to kick-start the latest iteration of Bond in a remarkably human way: no outlandish gadgets, no ludicrous evil plans for global domination or destruction, and no physically impossible action sequences. The film also explores Bond as a tortured soul, and his apparent lack of humanity is constantly questioned. However, this new vision of Bond requires an actor with both the suave sense of cool we’ve come to associate with Bond, but also the dramatic chops to effectively portray the human cost of the 007 life that the filmmakers were keen to explore; enter Daniel Craig. In true Bond fashion, Craig was far from a household name when he was announced as the next 007 – many people were upset to learn that a blonde would take over the role. However, cinephiles who would recognize the intensity that he brought to drama/action roles in films like Munich, Layer Cake, and Road to Perdition; this was set up to be a new era for Bond.

The legacy of Casino Royale. A new era of Bond, indeed. This film grossed an all-time franchise high of $600 million and received rave reviews. Critics called Craig’s performance as second to only Sean Connery’s, and that legacy has persisted to this day – the two of them capture the charm of Bond, but also the darker sides of his nature. Connery’s earliest films that emphasized the character of Bond and relied on plot to drive the action, not just spectacle or gadgets. There was an edge to some of Connery’s best work that Craig and the rest of the team here leans heavily into. Critics also praised the fact that we witnessed a very unrefined and imperfect Bond slowly come into his own over the course of the film, and the emotional wringer that he is put through along the way. This film appeared on many critics’ “Top 10 of 2006” lists, and for what it’s worth is my favorite Bond film (and yes, I’ve heard of and love Skyfall and Goldfinger). Daniel Craig’s final Bond film is set to come out in April 2021, and his run as the character has been spectacular while also bringing the character into the modern era from a filmmaking and thematic perspective.

The Story and its Characters

Human Bond, twisty plot. Getting the basics of storytelling right, without doing anything flashy, means mastering character, themes, and structure. This film nails the basics. I’ve hinted earlier in this review as to the filmmaker’s vision for Bond as a tortured and more dramatically intense figure than in previous iterations, and the film is constantly interested in him as a person. Beyond witnessing him come into his own as 007, we also witness our newest version of Bond go through a personal wringer that pushes him beyond his limits; perhaps that’s as critical to him becoming 007 as persisting in his mission. The film also bakes this examination of Bond’s humanity, capacity for violence, and emotional attachment (or lack of it) directly into the plot – there is time for reflection and character growth between action or plot movement. The film also seems concerned with the idea of self-awareness at the same time that Bond is, and touches on the tension between who we think we need to be, who other people or our jobs expect us to be, and who we truly are – and how much of that can actually change. Throughout, the dialogue is exploring this concept, but this exploration of Bond as person is woven into the structure of the film. This film shows why a neatly paced three-act structure is a great platform for action filmmaking and character drama. The first act pays like a solid action film, ultimately concluding with an exciting scene set at the Miami airport. After a brief interlude doing great character and exposition work, the second act begins. This is the film’s longest act, and for the most part it plays like a very different kind of film than the first act; the audience is treated to dramatic poker scenes, and cat-and-mouse tension surrounding Bond from both Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre and from the romantic intrigue of Green’s Vesper Lynd. After a twisty conclusion, the film’s third act seems to be plodding along as a romantic drama before spiraling into the most unexpected twist and most emotional gut-punching the film has to offer that brilliantly re-contextualizes everything from the first and second acts. Each of these acts puts Bond through progressively more as a character, so the human element is kept front and center.

The performances. The whole cast delivers, which is what happens when you introduce a cast full of talented dramatic actors. Jeffrey Wright is perfectly suave as James Bond’s secret CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter, in a brilliant overhaul of the classic character that fits with every other overhaul going on here. Judi Dench is great as M – bitterly sarcastic, cold, and emotionally insightful in all the right turns. Mads Mikkelsen may be playing a modern update to a more classic Bond villain, but his intensity is perfect for the role, and he owns both the quietly intense poker scenes and the louder, more frenzied scenes. Mikkelsen’s performance paved the way for a lineup of future Bond villains played by such powerhouse actors as Mathieu Amalric, Javier Bardem, Christoph Waltz, and (soon) Rami Malek. Eva Green’s performance continues to reward upon re-watch; knowing the late twist that is coming, her “honeymoon” scenes with Bond are a masterclass in subtlety. At every turn, she’s wondering if Bond is onto her, wrestling with her genuine care and feelings for him, and realizing that she has to act a certain way in order for him to let his guard down. She truly is a match for Craig’s performance and upgrades the “Bond girl” into an intellectual equal, a dramatic equal, and a well-rounded and fully realized character curated by a terrific performance.

Of course my favorite performance is Craig’s turn as 007. He brings the right physicality to the action scenes and also turns Bond into the primary sex object of the movie (as opposed to the women, a new for the series). He has the necessary charm, some of the coldness of earlier performers, but also a new level of dramatic intensity that the series had not seen before. There is an air of darkness and conflict to him at every step, and with so much riding on this performance as a key aspect of a new vision for Bond, he absolutely nails it in historic fashion for a historic franchise.

Technicalities

Dynamic, practical, gritty. If your James Bond movie needs to have some shots removed to avoid an R rating, you have my attention. The edginess of this new version of Bond wasn’t just contained to the script; the vision bled into every aspect of production. Martin Campbell and the whole team were focused on making the action feel as stripped-down as the character of Bond. This meant a return to practical filmmaking, and carefully establishing stakes to keep the audience invested in the seriousness of the action – a departure from the tongue-in-cheek approach lacking any suspense of recent entries in the franchise. This means that we see the very human Bond slip, fall, take brutal beatings, and struggle through every confrontation. Martin Campbell and cinematographer Phil Meheux are kinetic with the camera movements during these scenes, but also employ several effects throughout the film to keep the energy high. Despite the frenetic and brutal action scenes and edgy practicality throughout, this is still a Bond film that rewards its audience with rich production design, gorgeous sets, exotic locations, and stylish costumes worn by attractive people. To top it all off, Campbell is in complete control of the film’s shifting moods – danger awaits in these exotic locales, and the audience is always ready for it. Despite the frequent shifts in tone, they never feel abrupt; the emotional scenes, the action scenes, the suspenseful scenes, and even the humor is all properly introduced to the audience moment by moment; this is harder to do than you would think, and Campbell absolutely nails it.

John’s Highlight Reel

· Cold open. “Is this James Bond film starting in black and white?” Hell yeah it is. One of the most visually inventive opening sequences in Bond film history is not only filmed in black and white, it’s also not typical; there is very limited action, and is mostly a conversation with mounting tension. Bond’s first brutal kill in stripped-down, hand-to-hand combat is revealed through flashback, and by the time the scene is over we realized we are in for a far different, more mature, darker Bond film than we were used to.

· Parkour chase. This scene remains one of the most exciting foot chases in the whole series and feels like it was ripped straight from the Bourne films. There isn’t a special gadget or silly joke in sight; as Bond chases his target bombmaker (played by a real-life parkour expert), he struggles to keep up and often stumbles his way through obstacles. We watch the effect it has on him, as he is battered and visibly exhausted by the end.

· Bahamas. This is more in line with the Bond we were expecting, but with a fresh 2006 update. This sequence features Daniel Craig at the beach, stylish high-end beach resort attire, Bond using his charm to seduce a woman for the sake of the mission, but its sudden abrupt ending is a fresh reminder that this Bond is outwardly a cold, mission-driven man.

· Airport. This action sequence, largely set around a truck moving at high speeds, is a brilliant throwback to the practical stunt-driven action scenes of James Bond past. Like most of the action scenes in this film as well, the filmmakers constantly up the stakes and complexity of the action as it progresses without losing the audience. Craig also finds a way to bring his characterization of Bond into the action scenes for a very seamless effect; his “action” Bond feels the same as his “dramatic” Bond, a crucial part of this performance.

· Poker. We’ve had a chance to meet Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, and her and Bond’s intelligently sassy back and forth is a fun and charming stretch of the movie. Also, while we’ve had some tastes of Mikkelsen’s villainous Le Chiffre, we have yet to experience the full range of menace that he brings to the role. However, he absolutely nails the dramatic tension of these scenes, which would be utterly boring were it not for Craig and Mikkelsen. This makes up a significant portion of the film’s runtime, and is accompanied by fight scenes and poisonings and misdirection and character drama all happening tangential to the card table, but what happens at the table is riveting nonetheless.

· Stairwell fight. This is perhaps the most brutal fight scene in the film, which is saying something with the company that it keeps. This scene sees Bond throw one man down the stairwell and chase/be chased by the other who is wielding a machete. This is gritty, hand-to-hand choreography that is immersive and exhausting.

· Bond captured. So I won’t say much about this film’s torture scene except to point out that it’s perhaps the grittiest, darkest moment in the Bond franchise – and happened in the first film that Craig was onscreen. The car crash that precedes this scene is incredibly well-done with the stunt car in question breaking a world record for number of rollover spins. Le Chiffre’s sudden death at the end of the scene raises more questions than answers, and as the film continues, the audience is left to wonder just where the movie could be heading?

· Third act. This is a good 30 minutes of film that I’m covering here, but there is still very little that has beaten the first time I watched this section that seems to drag through the romance, only to receive a gut punch of a twist when it’s revealed that Vesper has betrayed Bond. This twist also casts the previous extended romantic sequence in a new light; on rewatch, the viewer will pay attention to every aspect of Eva Green’s layered performance. The final twist also seems to be a nail in the coffin for Bond – will he ever be vulnerable again? Perhaps the worse for the soul of the character, but the better for viewing audiences. Welcome to the role, Daniel Craig – your run has been nothing short of terrific.

Came for _____, Stayed for ______

Bond – why not? I mean it’s hard to go wrong right? Sure, the movies have been a little silly lately, but there’s a new actor and the action seems like it should be good. As far as solid blockbuster material goes, I’m sure this wouldn’t be a complete waste of my viewing time.

Bond – holy crap. Why can’t every blockbuster be this good? This film was on a mission to reboot the series and introduce a mature and dramatic vision for the character, while also introducing more mature and gritty action, while also remaining a solidly entertaining piece of filmmaking in its own right. There’s something about this film’s edge that’s a wonderful trip to the dark side, even compared to the magnificent Skyfall, which cements it as my favorite in the series.