Casino Royale (2006)

I know that reviews of Casino Royale are popping up all over the place right now but I simply wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I didn't put my own opinion of it forward.

From my childhood up to the present day, I have always been fascinated by James Bond. I always loved watching the Bond movies and through the years had every official Bond movie on video and then eventually on DVD.

I think it's just a guy ...
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Casino Royale was the first ever James Bond novel penned by Bond creator, Ian Fleming and was first published in a hard cover edition on April 13, 1953. This would be followed by another 11 Bond novels that Fleming would write - as well as two collections of short stories.

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PREVIOUS ADAPTATIONS:
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I know that reviews of Casino Royale are popping up all over the place right now but I simply wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I didn't put my own opinion of it forward.

From my childhood up to the present day, I have always been fascinated by James Bond. I always loved watching the Bond movies and through the years had every official Bond movie on video and then eventually on DVD.

I think it's just a guy thing… I'm sure there would be few men out there who would say that they wouldn't like to be James Bond. Okay maybe not in reality as most of us probably wouldn't last long at all but it can't be denied that any actor that has ever played Bond doesn't have the best job in the world while the role is theirs.

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THE NOVEL:
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Casino Royale was the first ever James Bond novel penned by Bond creator, Ian Fleming and was first published in a hard cover edition on April 13, 1953. This would be followed by another 11 Bond novels that Fleming would write - as well as two collections of short stories.

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PREVIOUS ADAPTATIONS:
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The story of Casino Royale has been adapted on three occasions for the screen:

The first adaptation of Casino Royale was in 1954 when CBS paid Fleming a mere $1,000 to translate his novel into a one hour long television adventure. Strangely enough, Fleming went on two write another 32 episodes based upon James Bond for CBS but for whatever reason, CBS never picked them up - let alone aired them.

Fleming then bundled together those 32 short stories and turned them into For Your Eyes Only and another two short stories.

The Casino Royale for CBS starred Barry Nelson as a secret agent code-named "Card Sense" James (Jimmy) Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. Other characters appeared from Fleming's novel but their names were changed as was the fact that Bond was Americanised in that he was noted as working for "Combined Intelligence" and even hinted that he wasn't a British agent for MI6 but rather a CIA agent! Blasphemy!

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Thirteen years later, once Columbia Pictures had acquired the rights to Casino Royale through its television subsidiary, CBS, a spoof version of Casino Royale was made unofficially after attempts to make a rival Bond movie to compete with the five existing films from EON Productions (Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice).

The result was a film that sported a stellar cast but was so ridiculous, it could now be argued that it almost makes the Austin Powers series seem like Shakespeare. The ludicrous story sees the British Government coax Sir James Bond (David Niven) out of retirement to lead a mission. Sir James Bond is now such a legend that the government has continued to give agents his name - to keep the legend alive. This includes calling the female agents James Bond as well!!!

Despite other incredible cast members such as Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Orson Welles (starring as Le Chiffre), Ursula Andress (who is now immortalised as THE first Bond girl - Honey Ryder - emerging from the sea in what is probably THE most famous bikini in movie history - opposite Sean Connery in Dr. No) as Vesper Lynd (at least some of the characters remained the same as penned by Fleming).

Despite this, the 1967 spoof of Casino Royale is loved by some and reviled by others. There is no doubt which camp I am in (definitely the latter!).

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Anyway… The history lessons aside, let me cut to the chase and tell you a little something about the new version of Casino Royale…

THE HUNT FOR THE NEW BOND:
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On October 14, 2004, Pierce Brosnan confirmed that he would not be returning as James Bond in the next film. This had followed a lot of press speculation about problems with the relationship between Brosnan and EON Productions. I was instantly dismayed at this confirmation as I thought that Pierce Brosnan had brought something fresh to the role of Bond - sophistication and the suaveness required along with some tongue-in-cheek humour à la Moore and yet retained more than enough seriousness to uphold that sense that this character was dangerous - and in some senses, a weapon of the British government.

The search for a new Bond went on and on with what seemed to be an almost infinite amount of names touted in the press as "the new Bond". This list included some unknowns and some very well known names from the film industry.

After a long laborious wait, the new Bond was finally announced. The 21st Bond film would be Casino Royale (This immediately rang huge alarm bells in my mind as every recollection of the 1967 spoof came flooding back to me and filled me with total horror! Casino Royale?!? Noooooo!!!) and the new Bond would played by Daniel Craig. Now, I have to admit that I haven't yet seen Daniel Craig in any other films as yet (although I do own Layer Cake on DVD - which I bought with the intention of seeing what he was like as an actor prior to seeing Casino Royale - but this never happened. I guess I'll have to watch it soon!) so I had no idea if he was a good actor or not.

Then the details began to trickle out faster and faster… and the Bond fan-boys were NOT at all happy about Daniel Craig playing James Bond. Lots of personal attacks surfaced on the web - ranging from the fact that he is Blond and "too ugly" to play Bond.

Now… before I go any further and become a complete hypocrite, I have to admit that I was initially very unhappy at the choice of actor to play Bond. I had always thought that Hugh Jackman (who plays Wolverine in the X-Men series of movies) would have made an excellent Bond - and who knows? Maybe one day, he will don Bond's tux. Never say never (again). I will come back to my preconceptions about Daniel Craig as Bond and where I stand now, having seen Casino Royale.

The fan-boys continued their outspoken dislike (or should I say hatred) at Craig being the new Bond. There are some web sites that have been put together which try to discredit him and the movie itself. There had been www.craignotbond.com (which seems to be "under construction" at the moment) and there is a very similar site to be found at www.danielcraigisnotbond.com which shows the same level of disregard for both Casino Royale and (as you can tell from the site name) Daniel Craig as Bond.

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THE PLOT:
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Casino Royale is a pretty massive gamble on so many levels - which I guess that's why it's either a very simple love it or hate it affair.

In this film, we see a little more of the origins of James Bond… or at least how he became a double-0 agent and then follow him on his first few shaky steps - in which we see him make mistakes, errors of judgement and a bit of a lack of respect for his superiors. It's an arguable point that Bond has always been shown to have a somewhat cavalier attitude but when have we ever seen M walk into her home to find that Bond has broken in, taken official information from her laptop computer and upon her entering and his only just having the information he came for, to be sitting down and playing cards with himself (or possibly just pretending to) while not batting an eyelid that he knows he's been caught red-handed?

In this film, Bond is sent onto an information trail that leads him to a sinister banker named Le Chiffre who is believed to be funding terrorism. Le Chiffre invests money from international terrorists and holds their money in a supposedly safe manner until they require it. What his "clients" don't know is that Le Chiffre is using their money to finance his own terror plots - which is of course a massive gamble for him but up until now, it would seem that he has been successful with his deeds…

What he doesn't count on is the involvement of James Bond who - as expected - throws a major spanner in his works.

When Bond foils one of Le Chiffre's major plots, Le Chiffre realises that having lost $100 million, the money his "clients" have invested is gone and that his life will be forfeit if they find this out. Trying to reclaim his losses as quickly as possible, Le Chiffre opens up a high-stakes poker tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro.

Hearing of this news, MI6 send Bond into the tournament - as he is the best player in the agency. The hope is that if Bond beats Le Chiffre in the tournament, it will leave him with no option but to turn himself in or undoubtedly be killed by the terrorists whose money he has lost. However, everyone is aware just how high the stakes really are - as if Le Chiffre wins, the money won from the hands of MI6 will effectively be funding the terrorism they are trying to stop.

Bond meets up en-route with the beautiful Vesper Lynd (played by French actress Eva Green) who is a government accountant who has been assigned to watch over both the $10 million that Bond will play with and the progress of the games themselves - albeit from a distance.

Although a lot of emphasis is placed on the poker tournament and the ensuing battle of wits between Bond and Le Chiffre as they glare at each other across the poker table, there is plenty of action elsewhere in the story. For example, the post opening credits sequence is simply incredible! The action grabs your attention from the get go. A lot of credit for this must surely go to the director, Martin Campbell as well as that of the actors.

This takes me onto other areas that I have to mention here:

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THE DIRECTOR:
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Martin Campbell has pulled off Casino Royale exceptionally well in my opinion. Given that this film has broken so many established Bond movie traditions and taken the franchise in such a radically new direction, it was an incredibly huge gamble that appears to have been worth the risks taken by all.

Martin Campbell directed Goldeneye back in 1995 (which followed a previously unheard of gap of six years following License To Kill - the last Bond film to star Timothy Dalton) which was regarded as the Bond film which brought the series back from the brink and was credited as rejuvenating the franchise.

Campbell is a director who clearly knows how to direct action and the slower pace of the tension of the poker games and the more romantic and emotional aspects of the story.

Given that Casino Royale is a "reboot" of the Bond franchise, it could be said that Martin Campbell has effectively helped revive the Bond franchise twice now in just over the space of a decade. Of course, as I previously mentioned, the changes are not appealing to everyone.

THE GAMBLE:
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Some of the aforementioned traditions that have been lost from Casino Royale include:

No pre-opening credits gun barrel sequence preceded by the Bond theme and the now infamous white dots crossing the screen before Bond walks in from the left, turns and fires his gun at the camera. While Bond does turn and fire at the camera, it's actually at the end of the pre-credits sequence and is quite different from what Bond fans have grown used to over the years. In this film, he has his back to the camera and he then spins around on the spot before firing his gun toward the camera - thought the actual style of the gun barrel we are looking down at Bond has been changed - as has the way in which the blood runs down the screen.

I was initially perplexed by this radical change as the gun barrel sequence now leads into the opening credits themselves. I initially thought that the new Bond theme "You Know My Name" was hardly a song suitable to be a Bond theme… but I have to admit that when the opening credits rolled, I was sold. The credits sequence is very stylish but as far as I can recall, there is another major ingredient of the opening credits missing:

No dancing and writhing naked ladies! Not even a Tales Of The Unexpected style silhouette! However, it really still is a very good and stylish opening to the film. It shows Daniel Craig walking around in some parts of the credits - whilst at other points Bond is shown as a very stylised black suited human shape fighting red figures that obliterate into hearts and diamonds that scatter onto an unseen floor when shot or punched. Very cool!

The other massive gamble is something that requires the viewer to suspend their disbelief. This is no departure for fans of the series though there are discrepancies which bother the hell out of me but we all just have to grin and bear them.

Despite the fact that this is telling the story of Bond becoming a Double-O agent and his first mission after acquiring his license to kill, it is still very much set in today's world. There are up-to-date technologies on show within the film whether it be mobile phones or laptop computers (funnily enough, mostly Sony products as far as the eye can see - which is a bit of obvious product placement and is no coincidence that Casino Royale has been released by Columbia Pictures which is now a Sony Pictures Entertainment company - however the product placement doesn't remove you from the action so if you can let it just wash over you, then you should!).

There is even a mentioning of 9/11 - which firmly places the movie in today's world - as well as a few glimpses of mobile phone screens where the year can be seen as 2006.

Another strange issue arising from Casino Royale is the return of Dame Judi Dench as M. She is as utterly bloody brilliant as always but of course - in all the Bond films prior to Goldeneye, M was always portrayed as a man - and Judi Dench played the new M in Goldeneye - which was also played upon in that film (Robbie Coltrane's Russian Mafia head Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky says to Bond at one point "So, Mr Bond, what brings you to my neighbourhood? Still working for MI6, or have you decided to join the 21st century? I hear the new M is a lady!" before laughing out loud).

So it seems strange that Judi Dench is portrayed here as the M who actually gives Bond his Double-O status - instead of being the M that she portrayed in the Brosnan Bond films - who obviously had replaced the male head of MI6. In that sense, this plays somewhat like Bond's world in another reality… but then perhaps I'm now beginning to sound like those idiots who utterly despise Daniel Craig for his looks and his blond hair… which brings me on to…

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DANIEL CRAIG IS JAMES BOND!:
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Okay - first things first. I simply have to spill the beans on how I now perceive Daniel Craig as James Bond…

The pre-credits sequence is good but showed nothing new as a majority of the action from it was shown in the trailer for the film - although that is no bad thing as the pre-credits sequence is pretty short and in no way outstays its welcome.

The images of Craig as Bond during the opening credits sequence look fine but gave no indication as to how he would carry off the character of Bond, having the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

The post credits sequence sees Bond chasing down a bomber in the streets of Madagascar. This entire scene doesn't let up at all and leaves you breathless as you see Bond pursue the villain who tries to escape him using the incredible art of free running which was co-created by Frenchman Sebastien Foucan (who actually plays the bomber that Bond is pursuing in Casino Royale). Free running (or parkour to give it its original name) is when participants (or free runners) use all manners of athletic prowess to bypass any type of obstacles in their path - whether by jumping, vaulting or somersaulting them etc but without slowing down their progress and therefore keeping up a very fluid and smooth movement.

The athletic abilities of Sebastien Foucan are absolutely astounding and make Spiderman look like a sloth!

Anyway… back to Daniel Craig as Bond!!!

The point I was hoping to make before I got sidetracked was to say that despite all my fears that Daniel Craig would make an awful James Bond and bring the credibility of the franchise crashing down, (though admittedly the more I saw of him in the newer trailers for the film, the more I thought he would be okay) let's just say that by the conclusion of the post-opening credits sequence, I had already accepted him as Bond.

He brings a really dangerous edge back to the character of James Bond and maybe not so much of the quipping once he's killed a bad guy etc. Though there are more undercurrents of humour in Craig's portrayal of Bond than the nay-sayers are probably both aware of or willing to admit.

Although there is little doubt that this portrayal of Bond is very gritty and dark - it works for me at least on a multitude of levels. James Bond was surely written by Ian Fleming as a very dark character, a person who is very dangerous and is more than capable of not only killing but of enjoying it to some degree. Craig's Bond carries this across incredibly well throughout the film. This comes across in many scenes and many lines of dialogue. One instance of dialogue that conveys this incredibly well is between Bond and Vesper Lynd.

Vesper Lynd: "It doesn't bother you? Killing all those people?"

James Bond: "Well I wouldn't be very good at my job if it did."

This is certainly a taste of what Ian Fleming must have dreamed up when Bond made the leap from his mind to the written page: A cold-hearted killer when necessary but able to both turn on the charm and be a bastard to women too. Of course that deduction comes from portrayals of Bond in previous Bond movies.

In this one however, we see a more vulnerable and human side to James Bond - not often seen - the last notable feeling and loving representation of Bond was probably seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service back in 1969. Therein some parallels can clearly be noted about OHMSS and Casino Royale. Both featured a new actor playing James Bond and showed a more human character.

The problem is that although a lot of fans loved seeing a more vulnerable side to 007, it spelled disaster for the box office takings. This seems to be a problem that Casino Royale has already overcome. The film made a staggering 1.7 million pounds on it's opening day within the UK. The highest ever box office opening of any Bond movie.

It has also been noted that Casino Royale has taken more than the entire UK takings of the last James Bond film Die Another Day (which starred Pierce Brosnan as James Bond). Die Another Day had a total intake of $59,000,000 whereas Casino Royale has made $60,000,000 within its first two weeks of release.

So… I can say that as someone who has always loved the Bond movies and cares very deeply about them that Daniel Craig DOES do both the franchise and the character justice. The general reception of Casino Royale has been very good with most critics hailing it as the best Bond flick in years and Craig the best Bond since Connery.

I would say that Craig seems to also care very much about the Bond franchise, character and fans and really deserves the hateful people who run the stupid web sites screaming that he is not Bond to shut right up and find a much better and constructive way to spend their time. I can't help wonder what those guys are like. I know that I am a self-confessed movie geek but I do strive to have a life out with them - though movies always have been and always will be a huge passion of mine.

I think these hateful freaks who are supposed Bond fans should just accept that everything must change with the times (including the Bond movies… the franchise is over 40 years old now and is as at risk of growing stale and stagnant if some risks are not taken from time to time) and are probably just hacked off that they are polar-opposites of James Bond. On one hand, they are probably spotty idiots who have never even touched a member of the opposite sex - and on the other, Bond gets more arse than a toilet seat. Tough break, fellas!

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OTHER ACTING:
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EVA GREEN (VESPER LYND):
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Eva Green is very good as Vesper Lynd - the government accountant who is as confident as she is beautiful - though Bond finds the chinks in her armour and finds that beneath it all, she is also a very vulnerable character who manages to slip on a mask to hide this - much like Bond himself.

Her confidence at controlling the money that Bond will play with is countered with an equal amount of confidence back from Bond:

Vesper Lynd: "I'm the money."

James Bond: "Every penny of it."

Of course, they both get to joust back and forth with some well written and witty dialogue which sets up very nice chemistry between Green and Craig:

Vesper Lynd: "The treasury has agreed to stake you in the game. But if you lose, our government will have directly financed terrorism. I will be keeping my eye on our government's money and off your perfectly formed arse."

James Bond: "You noticed."

Superb stuff! Eva Green is very sexy and every inch the ideal Bond girl material - though she has the advantage over so many previous actresses who have been Bond girls in that she plays a woman that Bond falls in love with. We all know that Bond becomes a ruthless bed-hopping bastard later on in his career - but what made him that way? Do you find out in this film? I won't say. Just go and bloody see it!!!

MADS MIKKELSEN (LE CHIFFRE):
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Mads Mikkelson is a Danish actor who plays Le Chiffre to perfection. Cold, calculating and very sinister. He is a tremendous Bond villain but amazingly is not a caricature of what we have all come to know Bond villains to be.

Though dressed very smartly, Le Chiffre is quite a pale and gaunt character with a scar that crosses his left eye and has left him with a characteristic that is useful for intimidating both people he conducts business with and those he plays at poker: a damaged tear duct that weeps blood.

Le Chiffre has no plan for world domination but just highly criminal plots that result in him getting as rich as possible without giving a damn about who dies in the process (very similar to the villain in Roger Moore's first outing as Bond - the superb Live And Let Die - where the plot just involved putting massive amounts of heroin out on the streets for free - thus making it accessible to everyone and creating masses of addicts that would up the demand which would of course not be free of charge!).

The brilliant thing about Mikkelsen's portrayal of Le Chiffre is that although he is as extremely clever as he is ruthless and is feared by others, it is clear that he himself is aware of the dangers that he faces from the people whose money he looks after. This is quite incredible to see as most Bond villains show very few weaknesses in the face of their plans.

During a break between poker matches, Bond gets caught up in a fight with henchmen of a warlord who has learned that Le Chiffre has lost his money - and has tracked him down and takes him to within an inch of his life and promises to finish the job. Extremely shaken and obviously scared, Le Chiffre looks almost pitiful whilst lying on the ground, promising to return the money.

The henchmen fight Bond (and ultimately lose it) when Bond and Vesper are almost back at their room and hear the commotion from Le Chiffre's room. When the fight is over, Bond has to return to their bathroom to remove his bloodied up clothing and to change into fresh clothes before returning to the games table.

Amazingly, following his ordeal, Le Chiffre like Bond has also recomposed himself and is back at the games table when Bond arrives - acting as cool as a cucumber - as though nothing has happened.

Le Chiffre: "You've changed your shirt, Mr Bond. I do hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire?"

James Bond: "A little. But I won't consider myself to be in trouble until I start weeping blood."

So we see a whole range of characteristics from Mikkelson as Le Chiffre from the weak victim to the evil, sadistic villain that he truly is when Bond is captured and tortured by him in a scene that will leave a lot of people in the audience wincing and feeling Bond's pain - particularly the male members (no pun intended) of the audience.

I won't go into the details of this hair-raising scene here - but all I will say is that the BBFC found this scene to be far too graphic upon receiving an unfinished version of the film and advised the makers that it would have to be toned down… So just remember when you watch it that this is the lighter version of the scene you're seeing!!!

JUDI DENCH (M):
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Judi Dench is a bloody great actress and has always brought something extra-special to the character of M. Her eyes are just incredibly cold and piercing and yet can convey a lot of warmth which can betray her cool, calm exterior and her fondness for Bond - even when she doesn't want to show it.

In Casino Royale though, she plays M with a more angry demeanour than in her previous Bond films. This is probably understandable in her first scene with Bond, in which she has discovered that not only has Bond found out where she lives, he has also broken into her apartment.

In a superb outburst, M shuts Bond down after he almost reveals her real name to the viewing audience!

James Bond: "I always thought M was a randomly assigned initial. I had no idea it stood for…"

M: "Utter one more syllable and I'll be forced to have you killed!"

Judi Dench has always been superb as M - and her acting in Casino Royale continues that trend!

There is lots of other fine acting that doesn't steal you away from what is going on onscreen but the major players are mentioned above. So… moving on…

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THE MUSIC:
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David Arnold returns for his fourth consecutive Bond movie (having previously scored Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day) to supply the score.

The thing that is brilliant about David Arnold's style when it comes to cloning the Bond movies is that he is a massive fan of John Barry (who scored many Bond movies among many other well-known films) and is not afraid to throw in styles of music that reflect his love for John Barry and his music - whilst retaining his own brilliant style and mixing traditional orchestral pieces with modern synthesised pieces to great effect.

Sadly, I don't yet own the Casino Royale soundtrack but hope to have it in the near future. I can honestly say that the music isn't very fresh in my mind - but this is not because it isn't good - I've heard more than enough snippets of it elsewhere to know that it is good. It's just a good sign when the music doesn't take your attention away from what's happening in the film.

One criticism that some people have pointed out is that there is very little use of the Monty Norman Bond theme that everyone in the world must know by now! The thing is, there are parts of the score where the theme is hinted at but not played as such. Again I think this is another brave decision on the part of the makers of the film. Don't get me wrong - I love the Bond theme as much as the next person but as with anything else, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

I think that like Bond himself, the makers of the film and David Arnold hold their cards until the time is right… and the winning hand is not played until the perfect moment for it. All I will say is that the Bond theme DOES get a full airing… but… THE theme is played at a moment when Bond utters THE immortal line (which I've just realised mirrors the theme and line moment from the original Connery outing, Dr. No). Pure genius!

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MY OVERALL THOUGHTS:
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Perhaps you may have noticed that I am really passionate about Bond - and Casino Royale certainly hasn't changed that! All I can say is that Bond fans (the real Bond fans that is… not the hateful fakers who make venoumous web sites) can sleep soundly tonight as Daniel Craig IS James Bond and MI6 as well as the rest of the world are still in safe hands.

I can't wait to see it again and will undoubtedly go to the cinema to catch it possibly another couple of times before it finishes its run.

The DVD is scheduled for release on March 27, 2007. The question already on my mind is: will it be uncut as Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies were recently given their long overdue uncut DVD releases - so there may be a chance. Watch this space!

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Many thanks for reading this! I know it was a novel in itself!

Derek.

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JAMES BOND WILL RETURN!
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