Revisited - Casino Royale (2006)

In the early 2000's after a poor outing in Piers Bronson latest James Bond flick Die Another Day, the world was ready for a new actor to take the reigns of the Iconic MI6 spy, but who? Multiple A-list actors were tied to the role but EON finally found their man in, blue eyed blonde hair actor, Daniel Craig. Now I bring up his features for a reason because it was, though idiotic, a big deal when they casted him as the titular James Bond. It was mostly because of the previous actors that played Bond all having either black or brown hair to match their dark eyes. So because of this, it became almost and unwritten rule for the character to have the features and to bring an actor with neither of those features brought the fandom in an very idiotic uproar. Daniel Craig didn't even get a chance to film a scene for the film before the whole fandom was lining up against him. EON, however, wasn't dismayed with their choice, thank goodness, and pushed on with their reboot of the franchise returning to it's roots, the very first James Bond novel Casino Royale.

Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming all the way back in 1953. Though nowadays James Bond spends little time on the page and now spends his time as a multi million dollar juggernaut of a franchise spewing money like an open cash machine. However, though it's easy to bet that any James Bond movie will do good financially, it was rather a hard time for the spy on the silver screen. You see Piers Bronson started out the gates running with Golden Eye when he picked up the character but he lost wind when he reached his fourth film as Bond. Not only was Daniel Craig's Casino Royale a reboot but it was the reboot of the character as a whole. He was no longer going to be penned as a robotic humanoid assassin with preposterous gadgets and actions scenes where the CGI effects couldn't keep up with the outlandish plot. Casino Royale was going to change the franchise as whole and to do that they needed to chase the heart of the problem, James Bond character, which will talk about later. Once the screenplay was effectively done, then came shooting. Along with Daniel Craig, Eva Green was casted as Vesper, the bond girl of the film, and Mads Mikkelsen as Bond's main antagonist, Le Chiffre. The pieces were all aligned, but was it going to be a royal flush or another film rather left in the dust bin.

The film released in 2006 and to critical acclaim. From the screenplay to the directing and of course to the acting done by the various characters littered throughout the film, all receiving high marks from critics and fans alike. However, what proved to be the most surprising was how well Daniel Craig was as James Bond. He not only did the character justice but made it his own. He made what was a robotic assassin who didn't have feeling into a multi-layered individual who had compassion and who was sometimes scared or shy even, he made James Bond into a a relatable human being while still holding onto the old characteristics of past Bond interpretations. Throughout the film, Daniel Craig's James Bond goes through a character arc of becoming the James Bond. When we first meet him he's a cold-blooded assassin, who's a scrapper and doesn't really show any compassion and focuses solely on his duty to his country. Though as the film progress, we see his character pull back layers of his humanity and even find him at one point leave the world of espionage behind him trying to turn a new leaf. However, once the film reaches it's conclusion and James Bond says his famous line, that's when he finally becomes ,"Bond, James Bond". In the end he doesn't become just a gun for hire but rather he he becomes a blend of his character throughout his entire arc in the film. He accepts the path he has took to become an MI6 agent and decides that it's the only life for him. It's a bittersweet moment, for the audience is happy to see Bond be James Bond but we all wished he did get that happy ending he truly deserves. Though, through Daniel Craig's run in the black tuxedo, we do see an overlying arc of him chasing that happy end.

The movie begins in a stylish way in a black and white scene of Bond gaining his license to kill showcasing his stone cold persona and his scrappiness in finishing the job. This scene introduces us not to the refine spy we know and love, but one who is ruff around the edges. The scene shifts to Uganda, where the film introduces us to our main villain, Le Chiffre, a private banker for tourists groups around the world. Le Chiffre agrees to invest a large sum of money from Steven Obanno, a officer of a resistance army. However, instead of investing the money, Le Chiffre buys put options on a aerospace manufacture Skyfleet, effectively betting on the company to fail to turn a profit. The movie returns back to Bond in a goose chase in Madagascar pursing a bomb maker to the African embassy. He shoots him dead and blows up the building in quite a thrilling chase scene. Bond returns to London and is condemned for violating international law as well as ignoring orders of keeping the bomb maker alive. M, MI6 Chief, orders him to remain dispassionate and leave his ego at the door. MI6 discovers further clues from the bomb maker's phone which point to a corrupt Greek official, Alex Dimitrios.

Bond finds Dimitrios in the Bahamas, and after seducing his wife Solange and winning his car, Bond pursues him to Miami. Bond kills Dimitrios and follows his henchman to the airport. Bond thwarts Dimitrios/Le Chiffre plan for the destruction of Skyfleet Airliner, costing Le Chiffre huge losses of $101,206,000 as well as brining Bond one step closer to getting to Le Chiffre. To recoup the money, Le Chiffre sets up a high-stakes Texas hold'em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. MI6 enters Bond in the tournament, believing a defeat will force Le Chiffre to seek asylum with the British Government, which they will only grant in exchange for information on his clients. On the train to Montenegro, Bond meets Vesper Lynd played by the lovely Eva Green, a British Treasury agent there to protect the government's $10 million buy-in for the tournament. In Montenegro, they meet their MI6 contact, Rene Mathis. At the start of the game, Bond gains the upper hand by deducing Le Chiffre's tell. During a break, Obanno, incensed at the discovery of the loss of his funds, ambushes Le Chiffre in his suite, but decides not to kill him and allows him to win back the money . As Obanno leaves, his bodyguard spots Bond eavesdropping and a fight in the hallway ensues, resulting in Bond throwing Obanno's henchman over a stair railing and killing Obanno in the stairwell with the help of Vesper. In the next scene, we get to see a different layer of Bond we don't usually get to see. Vesper is traumatized by the encounter and her contribution to the murder as she tries multiple times washing away the blood off her hands in the shower. Bond comforts her and sits next to her in the shower sharing a moment of solace together. The scene showcases that not only is Bond a ruff and tumble, scrappy, and suave killer that he is, but he also has a soft side to his character. We see him regret his line of work at times throughout the film even and him coming to terms of the humanity he is losing with in himself every time he takes a life.

When the tournament resumes, Bond loses his initial stake due to Le Chiffre being tipped off on his tell, and Vesper refuses to fund further playing. Frustrated, Bond plans to kill Le Chiffre but is intercepted by Felix Leiter, a fellow player and CIA agent, who agrees to stake Bond to continue playing in exchange for allowing Le Chiffre to be taken into American custody. Bond returns to the card table and rapidly rebuilds his position until Valenka, Le Chiffre lover, poisons Bond's drink. Bond escapes to his Aston Martin to try and save himself with an antidote and a defibrillator, but passes out before he can use it. Seconds pass as we, the audience, believe we lost our favorite MI6 agent until Vesper arrives and rescues him. Bond returns to the game and progresses through until the remaining players, including Bond and Le Chiffre, go all in in a epic climax. Le Chiffre, trumps every other players card and believes he's won, However, Bond throws his cards to the center of the table showcasing a straight flush, winning the tournament.

Bond and Vesper have a celebratory diner together. They subtly agree on their attraction to one another but Bond realizes there's another man in her life and ends his pursuit chivalrously. However, when Vesper leaves, she is kidnapped outside the casino by Le Chiffre and his men. Bond pursues them in his Aston Martin, but sees Vesper tied up and lying in the middle of the road. He swerves violently to avoid her, and crashes. Le Chiffre brings Bond and Vesper to an abandoned ship and tortures Bond to make him reveal the account password to the winnings, but Bond refuses to give in. Before Le Chiffre can go further, Mr. White enters and kills Le Chiffre and his associates for their failure, but leaves Bond and Vesper mysteriously alive. Bond awakens in an MI6 hospital as Mendel and Vesper arrive. Bond provides the account number and password to transfer the money which is in Vesper's name. Bond admits his love for Vesper and decides to resign from MI6 to have a life with whatever humanity he has left with her.

They run away together to Venice, but when M calls Bond and tells him the money was never deposited, Bond realizes Vesper has betrayed him. He follows her to a handoff of the money, where the gunmen takes Vesper captive in a building. Bond shoots the building's flotation devices to get inside, causing the foundation to slowly sink into the Grand Canal. Vesper is imprisoned in an elevator as Bond kills the gunmen. Vesper apologizes to Bond and locks herself inside the lift just before it plunges down the shaft into the rising water. Bond frees Vesper and tries to resuscitate her, but is too late and he tenderly cradles her corpse, holding on to the one thing he truly ever cherished. White, watching nearby, walks away with the money and leaves. M informs Bond that the organization behind Le Chiffre had kidnapped Vesper's lover and threatened to kill him unless she became a double agent, and that, the night of their capture, she likely made a deal with them – the money for her lover's life. Bond coldly renounces Vesper as a traitor. However, he isn't truly being honest with himself as we see in later movies, he seeks revenge for Vesper as well as his pursuit to find closure in his life of being a spy. Bond tells M he will return to service, just before he discovers a final text message left for him by Vesper. At an estate in Lake Como, Bond locates Mr. White and incapacitates him by shooting him in the leg. Bond greets him with the iconic catchphrase, finally bringing his character arc to an end and becoming James Bond. "The name's Bond. James Bond."

Casino Royale was something the Bond franchise needed to reboot itself. It something not many people expected and surely no one thought was going to be a great as it was. It made James Bond into something more than what past interpretations swayed from doing, they made him human. They made his character have flaws and issues but still holding on to the personality traits that made Bond, James Bond. Since the release of Casino Royale, the rebooted franchise has spanned 3 sequels as well as an upcoming 5th film in the Daniel Craig series which is penned to be his last one as 007. If it were to be his last, I dare say it was one hell of an outing as James Bond and it all started with one can be considered as the best James Bond film, Casino Royale. This is Revisited, thanks for reading.