Now Showing: Risico

Risico
Genre: Action/Adventure/Spy
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: John Malone
Based on James Bond by Ian Fleming
Cast: Dan Stevens, Richard E. Grant, Sally Hawkins, Tom Ellis, Matilda De Angelis, Kelly Macdonald, Shea Whigham, Himesh Patel, Dar Salim, Filippo Nigro

Plot: In Catania, Italy, Agent 007 (Tom Ellis) takes a video call from his Aston Martin DB11 cover vehicle from his superior, M (Richard E. Grant), the head of the British intelligence service MI6. M asks 007 for a status update and inquires if he's any closer to determining what Borda International has to do with the shipment that came back from Eritrea. 007 says he has a meeting with a lead - a woman who works for Borda who may be willing to talk. Multiple cars pull up behind 007's DB11. 007 tells M he has to go. Back in the London MI6 headquarters, M's video feed of 007 cuts out as the sounds of gunfire are heard.

Six Months Earlier...
British SAS Sgt. James Bond (Dan Stevens) is flying in a military transport plane at 35,000 feet above Syria in the dead of night - high enough of an elevation to keep the plane undetected, but also make a jump more difficult. He is given his orders to locate and extract a British national captured by a local extremist group. Bond nods his head and the doors of the plane open. Bond leaps from the plane, freefalling in a head down position - reaching speeds of over 150 mph. Bond checks the GPS coordinates on his watch, angling his body to steer toward his destination. He opens his parachute at just 3,000 feet above ground level. His landing is a bit rough, but once he's on the ground Bond quietly makes his way into the ruins of a village, guarded by heavily-armed Syrian militia soldiers. Bond stealthily takes out two guards and makes his way into a building. He clears each room in the building until he finds a torture chamber with fresh blood on the floor. He quietly radios his superiors that they got there too late. Bond is suddenly hit in the back of his head with the butt of a rifle, knocking him out.

When Bond wakes up, he finds himself tied up in a cave. Maher al-Atassi (Dar Salim) rips off Bond's dog tags to read his name. He then orders "Mr. Bond" to reveal the names of his superiors and every member of his unit, in alphabetical order, or they'll extract the information from him by unsavory means. Bond spits at al-Atassi, who laughs as a cart full of torture devices are brought out. He tells Bond they have a way of making anyone talk. Bond is tortured for several months by various cruel, brutal means by Maher al-Atassi and his militia group. Just when they believe they have finally broken Bond and have him ready to talk, Bond breaks free from his restraints and overpowers al-Atassi. Bond takes his dog tags and a gun off al-Atassi and systematically kills everyone in the cave system. He then emerges from the cave, blinded by the sight of sunlight for the first time in months. He begins walking through the desert toward civilization, or at least he hopes. With no water, Bond becomes disoriented in the middle of the desert. Suddenly a humvee speeds past him. It stops and several American private military soldiers exit the vehicle, followed by CIA Agent Felix Leiter (Shea Whigham), who comments that Bond sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the Syrian desert. Bond identifies himself as a British SAS soldier. Leiter jovially invites Bond into the humvee and has him brought back to his group's base camp. Leiter gets a British general on the radio and informs him that they have recovered one of their men and gives the name James Bond.

James Bond is extracted from Leiter's basecamp and taken by helicopter to a British naval ship in the Mediterranean Sea. The dapperly dressed M debriefs Bond on the ship about his months in captivity. Bond tells M that he needs a drink before he talks to anyone about anything. M calls in his assistant, Jane Moneypenny (Kelly Macdonald), and asks her to bring them a bottle of single malt from his things. Moneypenny returns with the bottle and two glasses. M turns down a glass, joking that he's sure Bond will drink his share. Bond flirts with Moneypenny and tells her that she can go ahead and just leave him with the bottle, no glass necessary. M asks Bond if they can talk about his captivity now. Bond takes a large swig of whiskey before describing how he was tortured for months, or so he's told - he lost count of the days after a certain point. M then asks Bond how he managed to escape. Bond downplays the events, simply saying that he saw an opening and took it. M shows Bond pictures of the dead bodies of al-Atassi and his men that Bond left in his wake. Bond shrugs and takes another drink. M asks Bond if he'd like to continue serving his country. Bond finally realizes that M is no military stooge and asks to see some credentials. M tells Bond that he is the head of MI6 and he has had Bond transferred to his agency. Bond jokes that he was worried he would have to update his resume before finding post-military work. M hands Bond a folder and tells him that one of his agents, 007, is suspected of being killed on a mission before an important meeting with an unknown contact. They found the agent's car riddled with bullet holes and set on fire, but no body has been found. M says that he wants Bond to take 007's place in Italy, locate the contact, flush out 007's murderer and finish the mission. Bond says that is a lot to process. M stands up and holds his hand out, congratulating Bond on becoming a spy.

At MI6 HQ in London, Bond is debriefed on everything they know about 007's progress, which admittedly isn't much. He was investigating a smuggling operation that may have been funded using government foreign aid - hence the involvement of MI6. As Bond is being measured for a new suit, he asks M why exactly he was chosen for the job. M explains that based on his profile he appears to have the same gallivanting ways as the previous 007. M then adds that he also wanted to find someone who could take out a building full of enemies single-handedly if needed. Once Bond is given his suit, he confesses that he doesn't know how to tie a tie. Moneypenny shows him how. Bond comments that he's not really much of a suit and tie type, but Moneypenny tells him he is, he just doesn't know it yet. Bond is taken to Q Branch for equipment where he is introduced to the department's head, Q (Himesh Patel). Bond is injected with a GPS tracking chip so that MI6 knows his location at all times. Bond's eyes light up when he sees the gun selection, but is dismayed when Q gives him a Walther PPK/S, a small handgun. Bond asks if he can have something a little bigger. Q comments that it isn't the size of the gun, it's how you use it. Q then gives Bond a pen. Bond looks at the pen inquisitively. Q says it's a retractable pen, but advises him to be careful about how many times he clicks the top. He informs Bond that if he clicks it three times in quick succession that simple pen becomes a live grenade. Bond jokes that he could've used one of Q's pens in Syria. M gives Bond an envelope containing fake identification, money in several different currencies, a hotel key card and car keys.

When Bond lands in at the airport Catania, Italy, he is escorted to his car - a 2021 Aston Martin Vantage convertible. Bond smiles and speeds away in the sports car. He arrives at the oceanfront Palazzo Gardenzio Hotel and checks into 007's room. He looks around at the luxurious room and comments to himself that it sure beats a cave in Syria. Bond looks around the room, finding the closet full of 007's suits. He continues looking around, finding the room's stationary had a page torn haphazardly from it. He grabs a pencil and carefully shades the paper, revealing the indentation of a name: Azzurra. Bond goes down to the hotel bar and orders a vodka martini. He takes a sip and comments that it is disgusting, but that's what he gets for trying to be fancy. He then asks the bartender for a Scotch and soda instead. As Bond drinks the Scotch and soda, he asks the bartender if he knows anyone who frequents the bar by the name of Azzurra. The bartender motions to the other side of the bar where a beautiful woman (Matilda De Angelis) sits by the window. Bond walks over to her and offers to buy her a drink. She motions to the drink she already has, but Bond says that a second drink never hurt anyone and orders her another. He tells Azzurra that he believes she knows a friend of his: tall, dark hair, wears a suit, drinks too much. Azzurra says that sounds like Roderick. Bond confirms that's the guy. After a couple more drinks, Bond invites Azzurra up to his room. When they get to the door, she says that it is Roderick's room. Bond says she should know her way around then. After they have sex, Azzurra falls asleep in the bed. In the middle of the night, Bond stealthily goes through her purse, finding her key card for Borda International. He steals the key card and joins Azzurra back in bed.

In the morning, Azzurra wakes up to find Bond is gone. A tray of breakfast is on the bed next to her. She sits up and begins eating breakfast. Bond walks through the entrance of the Borda International building using Azzurra's key card to make his way through the building. Throughout the corridors of the building are large screens displaying the company's CEO Felicity Anders (Sally Hawkins) as she discusses Borda International's humanitarian mission of providing help wherever it is needed in war-torn third world nations across the globe. He enters a room, finding Anders meeting with investors. Azzurra comes in with coffee and drops them when she sees Bond. He apologizes for interrupting their meeting and asks if they know where the restroom is. Anders calls for security, telling them that an unauthorized person has made his way to the board room. Security guards are quickly on the room. Bond is chased through the building, with him seemingly encountering yet another guard at each corner. Finally, he throws a chair through a window and leaps through after it. Bond cuts himself badly on glass when he lands. Bond then limps away from the building. When he sees the guards coming after him outside, Bond steals a motorcycle from a street corner and speeds away from the facility.

That night, Bond tends to some scrapes at his hotel room when there's a knock at the door. He sees that it is Azzurra and lets her in. She tells him that once her bosses found out Bond gained access to the building with her key card, they fired her. Bond apologizes, explaining he was doing his job. She inquires what he does for a living. Bond says he's still trying to figure that out. Seeing the poor job Bond is doing at bandaging his cuts, Azzurra takes over while Bond asks her about her former employer. She says that she doesn't know much about anything illegal, but that sometimes the company gets shipments back from where they are doing work and nobody has ever said what's in the shipments. Bond asks where the shipments go, and Azzurra gives him the location of the Borda International warehouses just outside the city. Bond puts on some clothes and gets ready to leave. Azzurra asks if she can stay in his room and Bond tells her to go crazy and order a bunch of room service and pay-per-view movies at the British government's expense.

Bond makes his way to the Borda International warehouse where sees several shipping containers being watched by armed guards. He sneaks in through a window to get a better look when a car pulls into the warehouse. More armed guards arrive as a man gets out of the car. Bond is stunned to see it is none other than the former Agent 007 himself, now going by the name Roderick Drake. Bond sneaks closer to try to take a picture with his phone, but he makes a sound that alerts 007 to his presence. Drake orders half the guards to investigate the sound while the other half loads packages of heroin from the container into the car. Bond escapes the building before the guards can find him and makes his way back out to his car. Drake emerges from the shadows and jokes about MI6 always giving their 00 agents an Aston Martin to drive - an uncommon, luxury sports car that sticks out like a sore thumb in most locales. Drake tells Bond not to bother drawing his gun, he's got men on the rooftops ready to take him out if he goes for it. Drake studies Bond, finally commenting that he doesn't recognize Bond. He asks if M thinks so little of him that he sent the new guy as his replacement. A car pulls up and a window comes down. Felicity Anders asks Drake what's the holdup, insisting she can't help the war refugees in Eritrea without the shipment being delivered to the buyers. She then notices Bond, recognizing him from the building earlier in the day. When she tells Drake about Bond's appearance earlier, Bond sprints down an alleyway. Drake orders his men to open fire. Bond narrowly escapes the gunfire.

Bond rushes back to the hotel to get Azzurra out of there now that Drake and Anders are aware of his presence. When he enters the room, he finds Azzurra has just been strangled to death by one of Drake's henchmen, Dio (Filippo Nigro). Bond pulls his gun, but Dio is already out on the balcony. Dio climbs up onto the hotel roof. Bond chases after Dio, catching up to him at the roof's highest point. Illuminated by incoming police sirens, Bond fights Dio on the roof, both careful with their footing on the clay roof tiles. Bond notices a tile Dio is on is loose. Bond kicks the tile, sending it and Dio toward the edge of the roof. Dio grabs onto the ledge at the last second. Bond tells Dio that he'll help him up in exchange for information on how to stop Borda's smuggling operation. Rather than reveal anything, Dio lets go of the ledge and falls to his death.

Drake and Anders are in the back of her car as her driver takes them to deliver the shipment. Anders tells Drake that she is having second thoughts about what they're doing. Drake asks Anders if she wants to continue doing all the humanitarian work she does through Borda. She says of course. He reminds her that bringing back narcotics and other illegal goods from the countries she wants to help is what pays for her good deeds. She says that she had accepted the drug smuggling, but now Drake is having people killed to cover their tracks and that's what is giving her feelings of hesitation. The car comes to a stop. The driver gets out and unloads packages from the car's trunk. Drake rolls down his window and is handed a suitcase full of money. Drake gives the case to Anders and tells her to go do some good for the poor little African children with their proceeds.

Bond gets on the phone with M back at MI6 HQ and updates him on the situation: 007 is still alive and faked his own death in order to head an international smuggling ring posing as a humanitarian aid organization with Felicity Anders as the face of that segment of the group. Bond comments how silly that all sounds when said out loud, but the bodies piling up aren't nearly as humorous. M instructs Bond to apprehend Anders and use her to bring in the former 007. Bond isn't used to bringing anyone back alive, but promises he'll try his best.

Bond goes back to his hotel room to find it has become a crime scene. He watches as Azzurra's body is carted out of the hotel in a body bag. Bond sneaks into the room and swipes Azzurra's cell phone from the nightstand. He sits down on the empty beach and takes off his shoes. Bond unlocks Azzurra's phone and looks through the contents, finding that a press conference for Felicity Anders is listed for the next day. Angered by Azzurra's needless death, Bond calls Anders from the phone. Anders looks at her ringing phone and sees a call coming from Azzurra. Knowing her part in having Azzurra murdered, Anders answers the phone with a sense of dread. Bond tells Anders that they won't get away with it and offers to allow her to turn herself in to him. Anders quickly hangs up the phone. She ponders the offer for a moment, then she starts to pack up some luggage.

In the morning, the press waits outside of the Borda International building for the press conference. Bond watches from a nearby balcony. Finally, just as the press corps are starting to get restless, Anders emerges from inside of the building. She apologizes to everyone and says she will have to make this a quick announcement as she has a flight to catch. She announces to everyone present that Borda International is beginning the second wave of relief efforts for the people of the African state of Eritrea. This time they will not only be bringing more food, clean water and medicine, but they will begin an ambitious and expensive project to build houses in the country for refugees displaced by the ongoing conflict with the nation’s Ethiopian neighbors. She then thanks everyone for their time and departs the stage.

Bond hurries down a staircase and sees Anders get into her car, this time she is driving herself. Bond quickly gets into his car and begins following her. Anders notices the car behind her and begins to pick up speed through the narrow, winding streets of Catania. Anders pays too much attention to Bond in her rearview mirror and when she looks forward again, she sees a group of school children in front of her speeding car. She swerves out of the way at the last second, sending her car crashing into a storefront. Bond gets out of his car to go check on Anders, only to find her with a large piece of glass protruding from her neck. He tells her not to touch it, but she pulls it out. Bond tries to put pressure on the wound, but Anders quickly bleeds to death. Bond walks away from the scene covered in Anders’ blood.

Back at MI6 HQ in London, Bond is in M’s office going over the mission’s loose-end: Roderick Drake. Bond wants to go after him, but M is reluctant since they have no idea where he is and thinks it might be best to just wait until he pops onto their radar again. Bond quietly says that he knows where Drake is. M asks where that might be. Bond says that Drake and Anders were smuggling heroin from Eritrea through the Borda aid efforts. Since they just announced more “humanitarian efforts” down there before Anders’ death, there is more product to smuggle north. M says that’s just a guess and a risky one at that. Bond comments that if Drake is anything like him, he won’t leave a job incomplete. Before Bond leaves his office, M says that while the government bureaucrats would prefer Drake be brought in alive, he tells Bond that as a 00 agent he has a license to kill for Queen and country. Bond nods and exits.

James Bond arrives in the Eritrean coastal city of Massawa and has a taxi take him to the port. Bond investigates the port until he spots a stack of shipping containers branded with the Borda International logo. He asks a worker when the Borda people usually come around to pick up their containers. The worker says that those containers are empty, the Borda people are supposed to fill it up later that night. Bond slips the guy a wad of money and thanks him for his time. Bond returns that night once it’s dark. He waits in the darkness until a series of vans arrive. Drake gets out of one of the vans and begins ordering men to unload the contents of the vans into the containers as guards armed with automatic rifles stand watch. Bond sneaks up behind one of them and incapacitates them. Bond takes his gun, smiling at having something a little more worthy of his military experience. Bond then uses the gun to take out each and every guard under the cover of darkness. Drake, hiding behind one of the containers, calls out and asks if Bond is back. Bond calls back and suggests Drake come out now, or they’ll have to do things the hard way. Drake grabs a gun from the ground and begins blindly firing in Bond’s general direction. Bond slowly moves to a better position while Drake continues taunting him between bursts of gunfire. When Drake runs out of ammunition, Bond emerges and reminds Drake that he should always count his shots. Drake reaches for another gun, but Bond quickly shoots him first, killing Drake. Bond clicks his pen three times and tosses into a shipping container full of heroin, exploding it in a fiery blast.

At MI6, M congratulates Bond on a job well done, calling him “007” for the first time. Jane Moneypenny brings in some papers for M and brushes some lint off Bond’s suit. Bond tells her that she was right, he’s getting used to the suit already. She then goes to adjust his tie, pulling it off, revealing it to be clip-on. She tells him to learn to tie a real one before leaving the office. M then asks Bond if he’s ready for another mission.

James Bond walks down a white corridor as seen through a gun barrel. Bond quickly turns and fires his gun in the direction of the barrel. Rivulets of blood fall across the screen before it goes to black.