Directed by Martin Campbell and is based on the Ian Fleming Novel.
Cast (in order of credits).
Daniel Craig (James Bond)
Vesper Lynd
Le Chiffre
M
Felix Leiter
Rene Mathis
Solange
Alex Dimitrios
Steven Obanno (as Isaach De Bankole)
Mr. White
Valenka
Villiers
Carlos
Mollaka
Dryden
Adolph Gettler
Mendel
Carter
Fisher
Plot Summary
James Bond, recently been promoted to the 00 status attempts his first ever mission. The promotion is as a result of his two professional assassinations which he carries out in quick succession. However, he faces a very mysterious poker player in the name of Le Chiffre. Besides being a poker player, Le Chiffre is a banker to world terrorists. At this point, Le Chiffre is undertaking a poker game in Montenegro. He is trying to win back large sums of money belonging to his client. Le Chiffre had lost the money in a failed plan that the British spy took down. Mr. Chiffre is doing this with an intention of staying safe in the terrorist market. M is the boss of the M16 and sends Bond to stop Le Chiffre from winning the game. Vesper Lynd accompanies James Bond and poses as his partner in preventing Le Chiffre from winning. Besides, Vesper Lynd, Bond is using the help from both Mathis and Felix Leiter in his dangerous career. Doubt befalls us whether James Bond and Vesper Lynd will remain safe, especially after defeating Le Chiffre. It is not going to be as easy as it seems either.
Synopsis and Review
In this movie Casino Royale (2006), James Bond stars amidst circumstances. Bond jumps into the mystery in attempting to stop an enigmatic organization from doing away with a country’s most invaluable resource. The film is probably the best title sequence one can ever come across if not mind-boggling. It is one of the most entertaining James Bond movies in recent memory. The killing of Fisher in the washroom signals the beginning of a gun-barrel sequence.
The film opens in Mbale, Uganda where a terrorist mercenary Isaach De Bankole speaks with Mr. White, an international mastermind. Mr. White had organized an introductory prior to the arrival of Le Chiffre. The subsequent sequence sets in Madagascar where James Bond is tracking Mollaka, a bomb-maker. Bond hotly pursues Mollaka after a long chase in the jungle where at least three people lose their lives. Elsewhere, the yacht belonging to Le Chiffre was moored in The Bahamas. In this occasion, Valenka climbs a ladder and strolls past Chiffre’s card game table. Meanwhile, the news of Bond’s killings hit the headlines. At this time, the news of bond’s murder of Mollaka are all over, and Valenka gets them. After the death, Bond removes the memory card from Mollaka’s phone and tracks the location of the Paradise Island.
The next scenario sets in the Bahamas. Bond had traced Le Chiffre’s yacht and drove along the coast to the Ocean Club with the help of his Sony Ericsson’s GPS. While a guest at the Ocean Club’s beachfront villa, Bond logs onto the computer. He uses the username and password belonging to M. Heading back to Montenegro; Bond is with Vesper Lynd, who is the liaison officer to the HM Treasury Financial Action Task Force. The liaison officer introduces herself to James Bond as they went on to eat supper together.
As things unraveled, Le Chiffre introduced himself to James Bond (now calling himself Mr. Beech) and knew his identity. All these take place at the Salon Privet of Casino Royale. The poker game starts between Bond and Le Chiffre. James Bond is now at the prime of his mission. The numerous killings within the storyline further undermine the film. Nevertheless, it serves as a great entertainment for its several plot twists and a colorful cast, notably in the Madagascar foot chase. The director Martin Campbell unleashed new actors although some had featured in the previous James Bond films. Nevertheless, they shone in their respective roles. Vesper Lynd was a distractor in some of the scenes, especially that when James Bond was on the betting table. In the confrontation at the stairs, both Bond and the counterparts were excellent. With, Campbell’s directing style, the film is made even more comfortable by its sarcastically dramatic tone.
Watching James Bond on a mission after a recent promotion to the double-0 status makes it even more entertaining. In the beginning, the curiosity is to watch his advances throughout the film. Even so, still the movie is relatively long as it takes over 120 minutes. Besides, it is convincing that the casting was brilliant as Vesper Lynd performs the accompanying role pretty well. The impressive dialog between Le Chiffre and Mr. Bond (as Mr. Beech) draws our attention well keeping us raising our eyebrows while watching the scene. Besides, for some scenes, the timeline is unclear making it hard to tell whether it was for months or days. The film has minor bottlenecks, but it is creative and exciting, you can spare a few hours of your time to watch it. Overall, the movie is great with an inbuilt love story portrayed by the kissing between James Bond and Vesper Lynd. Casino Royale (2006) is undoubtedly your priority film.
