Casino Royale (film)

Casino Royale 2006 ( film)

Casino Royale (2006) is the 21st film in the James Bond series and the first to star Daniel Craig as MI6 agent James Bond. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, it was adapted by screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis and directed by Martin Campbell.

It is the third screen adaptation of the Casino Royale novel, which was previously produced as a 1954 television episode and a 1967 satirical film. However, the 2006 film is the only EON Productions adaptation of Fleming's novel. It is a reboot of the Bond franchise, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework not meant to precede any previous film. This not only frees the Bond franchise from more than forty years of continuity, but allows the film to show a less experienced and more vulnerable Bond. The film is set at the beginning of James Bond's career as Agent 007, having earned his licence to kill. After preventing a terrorist attack at Miami Airport, Bond falls for Vesper Lynd, the treasury agent assigned to provide the money he needs to foil a high-stakes poker tournament organized by Le Chiffre.

The casting for the movie involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, and significant controversy over Daniel Craig when he was eventually selected. Some Pierce Brosnan fans threatened to boycott the film in protest. Despite this, the film, and Daniel Craig's performance in particular, earned critical acclaim. Casino Royale was produced by EON Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, marking the first official Bond film to be co-produced by the latter studio, which had produced and originally distributed the 1967 non-canonical film version. Casino Royale is the highest grossing James Bond film to date, the 38th highest-grossing film of all time, and the 6th highest grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom.

Cast
See also: List of James Bond henchmen in Casino Royale and List of James Bond allies in Casino Royale
Daniel Craig as James Bond: A British agent who, after being assigned 00-status, is sent on a mission to arrest a bomb maker in Madagascar, where he stumbles upon Le Chiffre's terrorist cell and is then sent to defeat him in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale.
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd: An agent for HM Treasury assigned to supervise Bond and finance his poker table exploits.
Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre: A banker serving the world's terrorists. He is a mathematical genius and chess expert, and uses these skills when playing poker.
Judi Dench as M: The strict head of MI6. Though she feels she has promoted Bond too soon and expresses abhorrence of his rash actions, she acts as an important maternal figure in his life.
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter: A quiet CIA operative participating in the poker tournament while assisting Bond. This is the first official Bond film in which Leiter is played by a black actor.
Giancarlo Giannini as Rene Mathis: Bond's ally in Montenegro.
Simon Abkarian as Alex Dimitrios: An associate of Le Chiffre, based in the Bahamas.
Caterina Murino as Solange Dimitrios: Dimitrios's wife, whom Bond seduces. She is killed by Le Chiffre for unintentionally revealing one of his plans to Bond.
Isaach De Bankolé as Steven Obanno: A Ugandan warlord introduced to Le Chiffre by Mr. White to account his finances.
Jesper Christensen as Mr. White: A mysterious liaison among the world's terrorists.
Ivana Milicevic as Valenka: Le Chiffre's girlfriend and henchwoman.
Sébastien Foucan as Mollaka: A bombmaker pursued by Bond through a construction site in Madagascar.
Ludger Pistor as Mendel: A Swiss banker responsible for all monetary transactions during and after the poker tournament.
Claudio Santamaria as Carlos: A terrorist employed by Le Chiffre to blow up an aircraft.
Two major exclusions from the film are the characters of Q and Miss Moneypenny. Their exclusion makes Casino Royale the second film in the series without Q (Live and Let Die being the first), and the first without Moneypenny. In October 2005, producer Michael G. Wilson stated that the characters were not in the movie because they were not in the book, though Moneypenny was mentioned by Bond in the novel. The decision to leave Moneypenny's character out from the film coincided with the announcement by actress Samantha Bond, who had portrayed the character in the previous four films, that she would not be reprising the role.

Plot

Plot
In the opening sequence, James Bond corners and kills a corrupt MI6 section chief Dryden in his office in Prague, and acquires double-0 status. Meanwhile in Uganda, Mr. White arranges a meeting between a banker, Le Chiffre, and the leader of a guerrilla group seeking a safe haven for his funds. Le Chiffre assures the leader that there is "no risk in the portfolio", but his investments actually involve considerable risk: he short sells successful companies and then engineers terrorist attacks to sink their stock values.

In his first mission as Agent 007, Bond goes to Madagascar in pursuit of an international bomb-maker named Mollaka. After a free running[8] chase across the city to the Nambutu embassy, Bond kills his target and blows up a part of the embassy to enable his escape. He obtains Mollaka's mobile phone and discovers that it has received calls from Alex Dimitrios, an associate of Le Chiffre in the Bahamas. Bond travels there and seduces Dimitrios' wife, Solange, who reveals that her husband is flying to Miami on business. Bond follows him to Miami, where he kills Dimitrios before noticing Le Chiffre's henchman, Carlos, leaving for the Miami Airport. There, Bond foils Le Chiffre's plan to destroy the prototype Skyfleet airliner, leaving the banker with a major financial loss, since he had shorted and bought put options on Skyfleet stock which expired worthless.

Now under pressure to recoup his clients' money, Le Chiffre sets up a high-stakes Texas hold 'em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. Hoping that a defeat would force Le Chiffre to aid the British government in exchange for protection from his creditors, MI6 enters Bond into the tournament. He meets up with Mathis, his ally in Montenegro, and Vesper Lynd, a treasury agent, who is assigned to look after his handling of the $10 million buy-in. As the tournament progresses, Bond loses his initial stake and becomes enraged when Vesper refuses to authorize him to buy back in because she considers his play reckless.

Bond (right) and Le Chiffre (left) gamble at the Casino Royale.Distraught over his failure, Bond prepares to assassinate Le Chiffre when he is intercepted by CIA officer Felix Leiter, also playing in the tournament. Leiter offers to supply Bond with the funds to re-enter the tournament in exchange for allowing the CIA custody of Le Chiffre. Back in the game, Bond rapidly recoups his losses when Le Chiffre and his associates attempt to poison him, an attempt Bond narrowly survives before winning the tournament. Following her celebratory dinner with Bond, Vesper is abducted by Le Chiffre, who uses her to lure Bond into a near-fatal car chase and ultimate capture. Le Chiffre tortures Bond for the access code to the game's winnings and when it becomes clear that Bond will not yield, Le Chiffre prepares to castrate him when Mr. White enters and kills Le Chiffre and his associates for their failure. Bond and Vesper are left alive.

Bond awakens in a hospital on Lake Como and orders Mathis, whom Le Chiffre identified as a double agent working for him, arrested. Bond admits his love for Vesper and vows to quit the service before it strips him of his humanity. Accordingly, he posts his resignation to M and goes on a romantic holiday in Venice with Vesper. However, Bond soon learns that his poker winnings were never deposited into the Treasury's account. Realizing that Vesper has stolen them, he pursues her and members of the organization she is working for into a building under renovation. After killing the henchmen in the building, Bond finds Vesper imprisoned in an elevator. Apologizing to him tearfully, she locks the inside door and the elevator plunges underwater. Bond dives in and attempts to rescue her, but she resists him and drowns. Mr. White, watching from a balcony, walks away with the money.

Bond, feeling betrayed, learns that Vesper had a French-Algerian boyfriend who was kidnapped and held for ransom by the organization behind Le Chiffre and Mr White. Bond learns that she agreed to deliver the ransom money (his winnings) only if they would consent to leave Bond alive as well as her boyfriend. He discovers White's name and number in Vesper's mobile phone. White, arriving at a palatial estate near Lake Como, receives a phone call. A voice on the line says, "Mr. White? We need to talk." Upon asking "Who is this?", Mr. White is shot in the leg. As he crawls painfully towards the villa, Bond appears, gun in hand, and responds, "The name's Bond, James Bond."

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