Bond is back and this time he doesn’t give a damn whether his vodka martini is shaken or stirred. Casino Royale is the first of Ian Fleming’s James Bond thrillers and the twenty-first Bond film to hit the big screen over the past forty-five years adding the most recent instalment to what has become a British institution.
This time, however, things are very different. Following in the tuxedos of Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig’s Bond is “more gritty than pretty” and has been likened to early Connery. Craig’s casting originally caused much controversy with the die-hard Bond fans, inspiring two media campaigns: www.craignotbond.com and www.givecraigachance.com. He is the sixth actor to play the iconic secret agent, and funnily enough for a character that is quintessentially English is only the second Englishman to take on the role. In truth, he’s as far away from the tall, dark, and sophisticated spy as you can get signifying a definite and deliberate change from the Bonds of yore to a more modern day hero.
“It is the grit and aggression of [EON’s Casino Royale] that marks it out. The Matrix and Bourne films have set new standards in what is expected of our heroes…and the Bond films have needed to keep pace.” comments Andrew Rhodes, founder of www.jamesbondresearch.co.uk. The Bond films have always reflected the times, mirroring the cultural shifts and referencing the current political climate. Rhodes believes “From the end of the Cold War, and arguably for sometime previous to that, Britain has struggled to find a role for herself in the post-colonial era and so has Bond. Ironically perhaps, international terrorism has reinvigorated Bond. The 9/11 attacks and London bombings had an impact on Britain and have given Bond’s Britain the pretext needed to play a major role in the world again.” In Casino Royale there is a direct reference to 9/11 and a plot that centres on the villain, Le Chiffre (with a skill for poker and an iffy eye that occasionally cries blood) financing terrorist organisations. “M even implies that manipulating airline stock prices was a motivating factor for 9/11” says Peter Bradshaw in his Guardian review “a sly piece of cynicism that would have amused Fleming himself”.
Then, of course, there are the women. Since Brosnan’s Goldeneye in 1995 we have had a female ‘M’ (Dame Judi Dench): a move away from Fleming’s original text yet mimicking the real structural hierarchy at MI5. However, the portrayal of the “Bond Girl” still comes under much scrutiny in our politically correct age. They are unquestionably beautiful and often bikini clad (although not in Casino Royale) with names that ooze double-entendre such as Pussy Galore, Mary Goodnight, Dr Molly Warmflesh and Christmas Jones (lending itself to many “I’ve always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey” type quips). M’s arrival in Goldeneye acknowledges a gender shift and she calls James a “sexist misogynist dinosaur – a relic of the Cold War”. Also the recent female influx such as Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies and Jinx Jordan in Die Another Day reflect physical women who are strong enough to fight their own battles and sexually liberated enough to play Bond at his own game.
As women adopt a new place in society, so of course do men and I believe this is where Casino Royale really becomes a film of today, giving us a Bond who is tough yet human. In an age of men who moisturise we see a return to men being men but not cavemen. They have a renewed understanding and sense of self, able to remain true to their masculinity and still whip up dinner. Craig’s Bond is undoubtedly masculine, physically pumped and believingly capable of killing in cold blood with his bare hands but he also makes mistakes, he cries and he bleeds. He has a heart, and in Casino Royale we see that heart get broken. We also see him lose faith in MI6 and throw in the towel. He gets confused and for a moment, he loses his way. “The development of Bond, his falling in love and his resignation are by far the most interesting facets of this film” states Rhodes. “We see a depth of unhappiness in Bond that we do not see elsewhere outside of Fleming’s original work…In the novels Bond becomes inconsolable after the death of his new wife [Tracey] in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and becomes a dangerous liability – something which we can believe Daniel Craig’s Bond capable of, but perhaps not Lazenby’s last seen whimpering at the side of the road.”
Casino Royale has become the most successful Bond film at the box office with Craig successfully wowing the critics and silencing the naysayers. Bond 22 has already been scheduled for release in November 2008 with Craig back at the wheel (although reportedly not of an Aston Martin). “[Casino Royale] tried very hard to make Daniel Craig ‘earn’ his place as the new Bond” Rhodes continues. “He does not get to say the immortal ‘Bond, James Bond’ line until the closing credits, having both strayed from the MI6 fold and having returned to it a cold-blooded but loyal assassin.” And earn his place he did…without the need for a witty one-liner or a remote-controlled invisible car.