Casino Royale (2006) | Bond Begins

By the time Casino Royale came out, I was going to the movies less and less often for one reason or another. And after the disaster of Die Another Day, I wasn’t really interested in making an exception for James Bond, especially for a James Bond who didn’t look like the character. However, people kept telling me that it was really good. I also heard from several different individuals “He actually makes mistakes.” That’s the level of ridiculously overpowered James Bond had become in the public mind after Die Another Day; the main character making mistakes was considered a positive trait! I’d argue that he made plenty of mistakes during previous movies, including Die Another Day, but the real problem was that the stakes were too low for Bond and his mistakes had minimal consequences in those films. In Casino Royale, he makes multiple errors and it matters significantly. He gets poisoned, he gets tortured, he causes international incidents, and he gets people he cares about killed. When I finally saw Casino Royale for myself, I became a Bond fan all over again. Unfortunately, just like how Goldeneye was the best for Brosnan, this would be as good as it gets for Daniel Craig.

Pros

Action scenes are fun and shot well
Acting is solid from the whole cast
Plot is easy to follow and paced well
Supporting characters are compelling with their own arcs
Grounded espionage and following leads to tell the story
Effects and stunts look good

Cons

Slightly unsatisfying ends to certain characters
The third act and its pacing are a little off

Plot & Thoughts

For the first time in the official series, a James Bond movie does not open with the iconic viewfinder opener in which James Bond walks across the screen before suddenly turning and shooting. It’s a simple change, but one that can be interpreted in a few ways. For one, this change could have been made to establish that this was a reboot of the franchise after the wild absurdity of Die Another Day. It might have been a method of saying “Forget what you know about James Bond.” It also could have simply been because this is the “first” story of Bond. In fact, the movie opens with Bond (Daniel Craig) completing his last mission before he’s granted his double-o status. It’s a short scene in black & white, with Bond sitting in the corner of a dark room as his target walks in. They have a brief conversation about how Bond had gotten here, flashing back to him fighting a henchman in a bathroom before Bond shoots him, and then the title sequence starts.

The movie does not slow down after the credits end. Bond is immediately on his next assignment, chasing down a terrorist through busy streets and construction sites, then causing explosions at embassies. After breaking into M’s (Judy Dench) home to use her laptop to get his next lead, she chastises him for his sloppiness on the assignment thus far and establishes the more volatile relationship between them that will continue through to Skyfall. M and Bond, regardless of the actors playing the characters, have often been at odds with each other over one thing or another—usually with some playfulness from Bond to balance off M’s serious attitude—but the Dench and Craig characters have a different dynamic. She’s much harsher towards him and frustrated by his actions and disobedience than she was towards Brosnan, and the playfulness of Bond from Craig is much more subdued. While this is likely tied to Bond being a novice double-o in this movie, their interactions and relationship don’t really improve in the sequels, they just get more complicated as M becomes more involved in the plots for them.

Bond does a little more digging around with the leads he has on the terrorist network he’s following, thwarting a terrorist attack in the process. This simple heroic act, however, causes some issues for the primary antagonist of Casino Royale, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). Le Chiffre is an accountant for criminal organizations around the world, some of which MI6 isn’t even aware of. He’s also a gambler who doesn’t have enough of his own money to win big, so he uses his clients’ funds. He’s good at card games and gambling in general, so he was likely going to win it all back and more, but he was also gambling on the stocks and hedge funds of various companies. The terrorist attack Bond stopped was supposed to get him in the green, but now he’s so deeply in debt to his clients (who are not happy), that he has to come out of hiding and participate in the Casino Royale event in Monte Carlo. Bond is then selected to play in this event and win with the hopes that Le Chiffre will have no choice but to go into witness protection with MI6 so they can get more information about his various clients.

Casino Royale starts strong and does not let go until it ends. The action is fast-paced and shot well so you don’t feel lost when things are happening quickly. The only time there are any shaky-cam shenanigans is in the stairwell fight, but you’re supposed to be somewhat unsure what is happening with how all of that goes down. The opening fight sequence, the parkour chase through the construction site, the car sequences, and the gunfight at the end are all gripping action scenes that manage to be tense and exciting to watch. In between all the various action scenes is some good drama and character-building.

Daniel Craig, despite not looking the way Bond is described in the books, does a commendable job as a grittier version of the character. Craig’s Bond lacks the eloquent charm of the previous actors but makes up for it in ingenuity and adaptability. As I mentioned already, he’s also a little reckless with his actions and gets called out several times by different characters. Since this is supposed to be his first major assignment, we could assume that he would grow into the character of Bond over time and eventually become closer to the charming version of the character. I don’t think this ever really happens in the later films because the tone of the franchise stays pretty serious until Craig’s final Bond film. Not to mention, the writers actively try to make Bond dumber in some later entries. At least, in Casino Royale, he has an excuse.

The recklessness and aggression from Bond work to this film’s benefit, however, because it allows for the other characters to react and respond to him. Vesper (Eva Greene) is a compelling romantic interest in the movie because of her interactions with him. She starts off antagonistic because of his ego and hot-headed behavior before she softens towards him in her realization that he has to be the way he is for the job he has, while also seeing the soft side to him as he falls for her. There are other movies in the franchise in which the romance between Bond and the female lead is more than just another fling for him, but this is one of the best because of how their relationship changes and grows over the course of the film.

The villain, Le Chiffre, also takes advantage of Bond’s behavior and manages to win against him in multiple scenarios, which forces Bond to adapt and improve as the movie goes on. Le Chiffre ends up being one of the best villains of the franchise, partially because of Mikkelsen’s acting ability, but also because more care was put into him as a character. Most of Bond’s adversaries are larger-than-life egotists who often share a fascistic fashion sense and a desire for world domination. Le Chiffre, however, is simply an immoral and cunning man put in a tough and desperate position. When he outwits Bond, he savors his satisfaction, but when Bond beats him at something, you see the fear and desperation build in him. He’s essentially the other protagonist of the movie with his own arc to complete that happens to run counter to Bond’s.

Another reason I like Casino Royale is because it’s a Bond film in which the protagonist actually grows and changes. If you look at many of the other movies in the franchise, the only thing that grows about Bond is below the belt. He’s often a relatively consistent character from the beginning of the movie to its finale, which is perfectly fine, but Bond is rarely explored as a character as much as he is in Casino Royale. I’d argue that The Living Daylights, License to Kill, From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and The Spy Who Loved Me are previous movies that put Bond in positions in which he has some level of introspection, but Casino Royale is the movie that builds him up, tears him down, and rebuilds him again by the end without forgetting what makes James Bond a likable and iconic character. Unfortunately, they would needlessly try to do the same thing in other Craig movies after this and fail, but we’ll get to those in their respective reviews.

Where I find issues with Casino Royale are mostly in nitpicking details. The main thing that still stands out whenever I see it is how the movie wraps things up. The passage of time during the last act is difficult to judge with how it is edited. I still like the final action scene and how the movie ends, but almost everything that happens after the card game ends moves at a weird pace and almost feels tacked on, even though it is an essential part of the original story.

TL;DR

Casino Royale is easily Daniel Craig’s best outing as James Bond and one of my favorites of the entire franchise. It has solid action, compelling romance, an interesting antagonist, and a flawed protagonist who is forced to grow and change after being thoroughly tortured both metaphorically and literally. It set up a new serious tone for the franchise that worked well in this movie and, unfortunately, would also make the following films too serious to forgive their stupid and unbelievable writing decisions. If only this had been the sole Bond movie Craig had made.

Hair of the Dog Drinking Game Rule

Le Chiffre is an iconic villain and one of the most memorable elements of the film. One particular characteristic is that his eye will occasionally bleed due to a damaged tear duct from the wound he had suffered at some point. It’s probably the most over-the-top detail about him that is fitting for a Bond villain, but the movie doesn’t overplay this characteristic to keep things relatively grounded. Still, why not revel in the occasional moments in which concentrated evil drips from his oculus?