Casino Royale (2006)

"I knew it was too early to promote you."
"Well, I understand double 0s have a very short life expectancy... so your mistake will be short-lived."

James Bond (Craig) has just received his 00 status, and his first mission: bring in a bomb maker for questioning. But the bomb maker leads to a bigger case involving mob money. Despite her reservations (see quote above), M (Dench) assigns Bond to the case. Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen) is the accountant to the mob. He made a bad investment and loses their money, and has set up a high-stakes poker game to win the money back. Bond is supposed to play to keep the money away from the mob. The government gives him the money, and a representative from a Treasury, Vesper Lynd (Green). Vesper controls the amount of money Bond can use to play. They also team up with a local, Mathis (Giannini) to win all the money.


To be completely honest, the only reason I watched this film was so I could see the sequel in theaters with some friends. I have seen every Bond film, but am not a fan. Essentially they are the same: Bond get assigned to some super-important case by M, flirts with Moneypenny, gets some sweet gadgets from Q, blows up some stuff, saves the day, and sleeps with at least one gorgeous chick who is somehow involved in the case (victim, cohort, villain). The case, villain, and girls are different, but otherwise it is the same.

This film works because it isn't the typical Bond film. This is an origin story and supposed to show how/why Bond became the super spy of pop culture. Daniel Craig works as Bond, making him different from the previous incarnations: he makes mistakes, gets hurt (and bloody), and is smug. This film was well made with exotic locales, although the majority of the film / plot involves a poker game. My biggest problem with the film is the relationship between Bond and Vesper. It is interesting and believable, until the end of the film where it takes a large jump. The role of M was expanded, which was an interesting dimension to the story. However the characters of Q and Moneypenny were absent. I missed Q and his snarky responses to Bond, but could live without seeing Moneypenny. Hopefully in future Bond films they revamp her character as well. I had to watch the film twice to completely understand what happens, but I enjoyed the ride both times.

**There is a torture scene (after the car accident), and several violent deaths shown on screen.

Casino Royale (2006) 144 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity.
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Daniel Craig as James Bond
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd
Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre
Judi Dench as M
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter
Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis