'Why I love Broccoli'

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2006)

'Casino Royale' beat all past Bond opening day records with £1.7 million in the UK, and looks set to make $40 million in its first weekend. Wasn't this the Bond film that had alienated its core audiences with an unusual choice as Britain's most renowned spy, a man who broke his tooth on the first day of shooting, and couldn't drive his Aston Martin because he didn't know how to drive stick? Hadn't the producers controversially dropped the traditional formula for a more 'emotional story,' the film whose production inspired a website called craignotbond.com? Why is it then that audiences still flock to see these films, which have been running practically non-stop since 'Dr No' in 1962? Are we franchise obsessed?
The answer is no.The remarkable thing about 'Casino Royale' is not only that it's the twenty- first Bond film, but that it marks the strongest entry into the series not just since 1964's high-point 'Goldfinger,' but perhaps ever. And that is principally because it is completely different to what has gone before. It is a true reinvention. After 2002's 'Die Another Day' took the series record of $160 million at the box office, long-time series producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson decided to take a huge and seemingly unnecessary risk and recast the popular and suave Pierce Brosnan with the craggy-looking Liverpudlian art-house actor Daniel Craig, and completely revamp the series. For any Hollywood producer, this sort of risk reveals remarkable creativity and loyalty to its source material, which had seemed to be so outdated it barely influenced the character; a remarkable trait, especially one for the producers of a franchise that has grossed nearly $1.2 billion to date, the largest franchise gross in history, second only to a certain space saga which has hopefully endured its last 'prequel.'
With 'Casino Royale' the producers allow a change in the character of James Bond, by showing his roots. Revived again by Martin Campbell, this film has an identity of its own. Bond is a tough policeman, in the scruffy rags to riches tale of a man who doesn't know how he likes his martinis, sleeps with married women, and needs a stiff drink to stabilize his nerves because the threats are real and terrifying. For the first time in a James Bond film, we genuinely fear for our heroes' life. In a scene where he is poisoned during a poker match, he desperately lunges towards his car for the antidote, and the camera sways with him, the light in the bathroom overexposed and blurry, mirroring his own confused delirium. In the Roger Moore era, he would have simply raised a single wry eyebrow as he fell into the arms of the femme fatale, only to wake up in white linen in the villain's paradise lair the next morning. Here he is on his own, desperate to save himself using a mobile electric pulse unit from his collection of gadgets. Gone is Q, and 'Casino Royale's' gadgets aren't laser-cutting wristwatches or explosive pens, but simply life-saving medical devices. This is the first fully adult Bond film. Aside from the fact that he is blond, shorter, and for the first time a rookie within M16, this is the first time since 'From Russia With Love' that a Bond film that can be called purely a thriller. The Fleming stories were obviously written as such, and yet when they were passed to celluloid, they somehow transformed into action-adventure fantasies. There were thrilling elements, but the principal mood, as demonstrated by the exciting and operatic John Barry orchestra, was always one of excitement and action, rather than nail- biting tension and thrills. In 'Casino Royale,' Bond is fragile and human, and we feel his pain. The familiar guitar riff doesn't even play until the closing credits. When Monty Norman's theme tune strikes up and we hear those immortal lines at the end of 'Casino Royale,' it's like we're both seeing an old friend and meeting him for the first time.
Broccoli and Wilson have once again shown insight into the character that they have both grown up with, (Barbara Broccoli is the late Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli's daughter, Wilson his stepson, both were involved in the films in their youth) and remarkable creative drive to keep him alive and fresh, and all they had to do was go back to Fleming's first book. 'Casino Royale' reaches the furthest emotionally. Craig's Bond bleeds and suffers tragedy, and at the end of the film, we understand why he's the cold-hearted bastard we know and love. Craig has signed on for at least two more film, and so long as the writers continue in this vein in his next outings, we will see a Bond who undergoes a journey throughout his films, learning and changing as he goes. This reinvention could see the most powerful and ferocious Bond to date. Bond, it seems, has something to offer every era. At the end of the day, its success falls largely to his nurturing and loving producers; a true 'Hollywood family.' Sit up and take note, Hollywood producers, and see how you keep a franchise alive; especially you, Mr. Lucas, because this is how you make a real prequel. 'James Bond will return,' as those final titles remind us again and again, and personally, I can't wait.