Carte Blanche
Genre: Action/Adventure/Spy
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: John Malone
Based on characters created by Ian Fleming
Cast: Dan Stevens, Benicio del Toro, Richard E. Grant, Melissa Barrera, Himesh Patel, Shea Whigham, Kelly Macdonald, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Berkel, Kevin McKidd, Douglas Henshall, Jack Davenport
Plot: The country of England is mourning the death of the nation’s longtime Queen. The newly crowned King Albert (Douglas Henshall), the eldest son of the deceased Queen, meets with the Prime Minister, Edmond Lewis (Jack Davenport) and M (Richard E. Grant) to help facilitate security for his mother’s funeral procession through London. M assures King Albert that he will put his best agents on the security detail to ensure that his mother’s funeral goes down without any issues.
James Bond, Agent 007 (Dan Stevens) wakes up hungover in bed to his phone ringing. Without taking his head out from under the covers, Bond manages to reach his phone and answer it. On the other line is Jane Moneypenny (Kelly Macdonald), asking where he is. He says he’s still waking up. She informs him that M needs to see him as soon as possible and hangs up. Bond removes his covers, revealing a beautiful woman sleeping in bed next to him.
Bond sits in on a briefing of the security plan for the event. Q (Himesh Patel) renders a 3D hologram of the location the Prime Minister is set to give a speech from. M points out two rooftops that overlook the stage. He tells Bond that he will man the south building, while Brian Fairbanks, Agent 002 (Kevin McKidd) will man the north rooftop. Fairbanks asks why foreign intelligence agents like themselves are acting as glorified security agents for a funeral. M sternly tells Fairbanks that he’s lucky that Prime Minister Lewis and King Albert have already left the building.
On the day of the funeral procession, Prime Minister Lewis gives a speech to a large crowd of mourners. King Albert and M are at either side of him. Lewis begins giving a speech during the procession about how all the political spectrums of England should come together and be more willing to compromise with each other at least in the short term in honor of the Queen’s memory. As planned, Fairbanks is keeping an eye on things from the north rooftop and Bond from the south rooftop. M listens in through an earpiece as they describe their surroundings. Fairbanks is then suddenly attacked from behind by Francisco Scaramanga (Benicio del Toro). After a brief but brutal fight, Scaramanga manages to stab Fairbanks in the chest with a golden knife. Scaramanga then begins setting up a sniper rifle at Fairbanks’ rooftop position. He expertly loads one golden bullet into the gun. When Fairbanks fails to check in with a status update, Bond and M both know something is wrong. M motions for Prime Minister Lewis to wrap up his speech, but before he can a gunshot rings out through the square. M jumps on top of Lewis, but soon finds out that it is too late and Lewis has been shot dead from sniper fire. M orders Bond to track down the gunman. Bond tells M that he’s already on it as he leaps across a rooftop in order to reach the north building where he finds Fairbanks’ dead body. He calls in that 002 has been killed. Out of the corner of his eye, Bond sees the killer still in the distance climbing down a nearby fire escape toward the street level. Bond jumps down from the top of the building, balcony to balcony until he reaches the street where he sees Scaramanga start to escape on a motorcycle. Bond commandeers a police motorcycle to give chase down the crowded streets of London. The two swerve through crowds of mourners on their way to bid farewell to the Queen. Bond chases Scaramanga all the way to the River Thames, where he loses him. Bond looks around, unable to find Scaramanga, until he finally sees him far off in the distance on a boat driving away down the river. Bond tries to catch up by speeding along the edge of the river, but Bond eventually runs out of road. Scaramanga smiles at the captain of his boat, Andrea Bouquet (Charlotte Le Bon).
Back at MI6 HQ, M informs Bond that they have been unable to locate the killer since he got away from Bond. Jane Moneypenny (Kelly Macdonald) enters M’s office and hands him the autopsy report for Prime Minister Lewis. M tells Bond that at least the identity of the killer is no longer in question and hands the report to Bond. He quickly reads through it, pointing out that the only seemingly useful information in the report is that the bullet was made of gold. M then tells Bond that it is the trademark of a world-class assassin known as Francisco Scarmanga. He informs Bond that their intelligence sources indicate that Scaramanga used to work exclusively for the drug cartels of South America as an assassin, but once he ran out of worthy targets there, he went freelance working for the highest bidder across the globe. His trademark has long been killing his targets with a golden bullet - nobody knows exactly why, outside of a possible sign of vanity on Scaramanga’s part. The meeting is suddenly interrupted by King Albert. He asks for M’s best agent. M motions over to Bond. King Albert tells Bond that he has “carte blanche” to track down and kill Scaramanga.
Moneypenny escorts Bond down to the basement level of MI6 where Q Branch is located to get as much information on his target as possible. Q breaks some bad news to Bond - nobody knows where Scaramanga bases his operations. Bond asks Q if there is any information available for him to work off of. Q tells Bond that he may not know where Scaramanga is or came from, he may know where the gold Scaramanga forged his bullet with came from. Q informs Bond that the bullet has a slight radiation signature that can only be found in the gold mines of western Austria, narrowing it down to just a couple different mines in the region.
Bond visits one of the gold mines that match the radiation signature, posing as a billionaire interested in buying the mine. While on a tour of the mining and smelting facilities, Bond notices Auric Goldfinger (Christian Berkel) making a large purchase of gold. When Bond acts the mine manager about Goldfinger, the manager gets very defensive, piquing Bond’s interest. He contacts MI6 and asks what they have on him. Q informs Bond that the database has Goldfinger listed as a gold smuggler who recently left prison where he was serving a short term in a minimum security prison for buying gold in Switzerland, melting it down, and re-selling it in a fashion to avoid paying taxes on it. Without any other lead at the mine, Bond decides to tail Goldfinger away from the gold mine and to a small airstrip where Goldfinger's solid gold private jet is waiting for him. Bond contacts MI6 to ask if they can tell him where Goldfinger's jet is scheduled to fly to. Q tells Bond that while the jet appears to have no scheduled itinerary, he can try to track the plane’s direction using a combination of unmanned aircrafts and satellite imagery and should be able to at least figure out where it lands if it does so at any official airport.
While Bond takes a train west from Austria back toward England, he receives word from Q that Goldfinger’s jet is looking like it is heading toward the Caribbean. Bond calls in for immediate extraction from the train. Bond climbs up onto the roof of the train where he is picked up by helicopter and brought back to MI6 HQ. Once there, Bond is immediately confronted by M about his mission, asking why he’s on a goose chase after Auric Goldfinger rather than searching for the killer himself. Bond insists that Goldfinger is the only possible lead at this point since someone like Scaramanga knows how to cover his tracks expertly, but Goldfinger does not. M encourages Bond to make quick work of the mission as the king himself is eagerly awaiting good news of an accomplished mission. Bond asks M for a plane to take him to the Caribbean. M informs Bond that they don’t have a plane to give him right now, but that a friend from the American CIA has offered to take him most of the way. When Bond arrives at the airstrip, he is greeted by CIA Agent Felix Leiter (Shea Whigham), who informs Bond that he can take him as far as Cuba, but that he’ll have to find his own way from there. Bond thanks Leiter for the hospitality and boards the plane. While on the flight, Bond and Leiter catch up a bit before Q calls Bond to inform him that Goldfinger has reportedly landed on the island of Martinique in the French West Indies. Bond asks Leiter if the plane can drop him off there. Leiter tells him that they can fly over the island, but won’t be able to get permission to land so Bond will have to jump.
Aboard a large luxury yacht in the Caribbean Sea, Scaramanga sips a drink brought to him by Andrea while lounging in the sun. His sunshine is suddenly blocked by the shadow of a helicopter preparing to land on the yacht’s helipad. Goldfinger exits the helicopter holding a large suitcase. Scaramanga opens the case to find it full of gold bricks as payment for the assassination of Prime Minister Lewis. Scaramanga thanks Goldfinger for the gold, and Goldfinger informs Scaramanga that his employers have decided to double Scaramanga’s fee if he will do one more quick job on his way home. An assistant then brings a second case of gold bricks out from the helicopter to present to Scaramanga. Scaramanga asks where the job is, and Goldfinger says Martinique. Scaramanga looks over the gold bricks and curiously asks who Goldfinger’s employer is anyways. Goldfinger says the word “Spectre” before leaving to board his waiting helicopter. Scaramanga takes the gold cases down below deck where his sister Maria (Melissa Barrera) is watching the news. She points out the report of the assassination of the British Prime Minister and asks if that was Scaramanga’s handiwork. Scaramanga confirms her suspicions. She then notices the second case and makes a snide remark about her brother’s greed. Scaramanga slaps his sister across the face for her insult and reminds her that she would most likely be nothing but a common whore back in Colombia if not for him. Maria angrily insists that she would rather die than be a whore. Scaramanga slaps her again and tells her that that could always be arranged as well if she continues to show a lack of appreciation for all he has done for her. Maria holds her face as her brother secures his two cases of gold in a safe.
Andrea pilots Scaramanga’s yacht into the harbor of Fort-de-France, the largest town on the island of Martinque, which is in the middle of a large celebration for its yearly anniversary as a French colony. Scaramanga collects a gold bullet from his safe and puts it in his pocket. He then grabs his gun case and exits the boat. Once Scaramanga has left, Maria goes to leave the boat as well, but she is stopped by Andrea, who tries to make Maria stay aboard. Maria fights Andrea off of her. She tells Andrea that she promises to be back before her brother even sets up for the job. Andrea warns Maria that if she is not back on the yacht before Scaramanga is back, that she will make sure Maria is left behind. Maria agrees.
Leiter tells Bond that they are about to enter the airspace above Martinique and tosses him a parachute pack. Leiter gives Bond his business card, suggesting he give him a call if he ever needs a hand. Bond thanks Leiter for the lift before leaping from the side of the plane. Strong ocean winds take Bond off course, forcing him to land in the middle of the celebration in Fort-de-France. As he lands in the middle of the street, he quickly ditches the parachute and keeps moving before anyone really takes notice.
In Fort-de-France, Maria notices Bond and his gun, quickly deducing that he is some sort of British government agent. She approaches him at a streetside bar. He is initially dismissive toward her until he actually looks at her and sees how beautiful she is. He then allows her to buy him a drink. She tries to order drinks from the bartender, but she doesn’t speak French, so the bartender ignores her. Bond calls over the bartender and orders two vodka martinis in French. She is impressed by his ability to speak French. Bond admits that he took French class in school in order to impress girls - and it clearly still works. Bond asks where Maria is from since she is clearly not a local, and Maria reveals that she lives on a small island off the southwestern coast of Colombia. Maria notices the time and quickly gets up to leave without a word. Bond tries to follow Maria, but loses her in the crowd of the celebration. Bond then learns that the guest of honor at this year’s anniversary celebration is the President of France. The details all click in Bond’s head and he rushes toward the President’s motorcade to warn them of the threat. He tries to tell them that someone is going to kill the president, but they push him away as the motorcade continues through the town’s streets. A gunshot rings out, with the bullet sneaking in through the slightly unrolled back window of the president’s limousine. Bond races toward the gunshot, crashing into Scaramanga as he makes his way down a stairwell. Bond begins beating Scaramanga in hand-to-hand combat, but the fight is quickly broken up by the Martinique police. They tackle and arrest Bond instead of Scaramanga, allowing the true assassin to quietly escape back to his yacht.
While being held in police custody in Fort-de-France, Bond is beaten throughout the night as the police try to coerce a confession from him. He makes it through the night and maintains his story that he was actually trying to prevent the president of France from being killed. They finally allow Bond to make his one phone call, which he uses to contact Felix Leiter. When Leiter arrives at the station, he manages to convince the police chief that Bond is not the assassin and was actually working with the CIA on an entirely separate investigation. The police begrudgingly release Bond.
Leiter takes Bond away from the police station. Leiter asks Bond what his next move is, and Bond reveals that he planted a tracking device on a woman he met just before the assassination that he has a hunch is connected to Scaramanga somehow. Bond thanks Leiter for his help and asks to be let out of the vehicle at a nearby harbor. Bond hotwires a seaplane and flies away from Martinique. Bond flies over the Panama Canal and turns south along the Colombian coast. Suddenly, Bond's plane is shot down by a ground-to-air missile, causing his plane to crash into the ocean. While trying to escape the wreckage, Bond is attacked by a silky shark. As the shark opens its mouth to bite him, Bond manages to shove a piece of plane wreckage into the shark's mouth. After crunching down on the wreckage, the shark leaves Bond alone. Bond manages to find some floating debris to rest on as he passes out.
When Bond awakens, he finds himself locked up in an abandoned jungle prison. Bond's cell is overrun with vegetation. A capuchin monkey sits outside of the cell watching Bond curiously. When Bond gathers himself, he starts working at picking the lock of his cell. The monkey starts screeching wildly. Bond hears someone coming and quickly gets away from the cell door, looking for something to use as a weapon. Then, to his surprise, Maria comes to his cell with a bowl of rice and beans for Bond to eat and a bottle of water to drink. Bond asks if Maria is Scaramanga's girlfriend. Maria scoffs at the thought, insisting she hates her brother, but he's the only family she has. Bond asks where he is. Scaramanga emerges, telling Bond that they are on Gorgona Island. He bought the island, which used to be a prison colony - hence the cells - from the Colombian government. Bond asks why, and Scaramanga explains that he was born on the island as his parents were imprisoned, comparing it to a man buying his childhood home once he gets a little bit of money - just on a bit grander of a scale. Scaramanga then excuses himself from the conversation, telling Bond that he’ll see him soon.
Scaramanga makes a call to Goldfinger, demanding to know who exactly James Bond is. Goldfinger is combative, insisting that he nor the organization he works for owe Scaramanga anything more after what they have already paid him. Scaramanga says he isn't looking for help from Spectre, just information. Goldfinger hangs up the call, but just a moment later a report on James Bond prints out from Scaramanga's computer. He scans the report, chuckling at the 007 codename. Scaramanga goes into his workshop and melts down a brick of gold, turning it into several gold bullets. In one of the bullets he engraves '007'.
Bond convinces Maria to help him break out of his cell by giving him a hair clip that he uses to pick the cell door’s lock. Maria asks Bond if he is planning on killing her brother. He bluntly says yes. She helps him sneak into Scaramanga’s mansion to arm himself with one of her brother’s collection of revolvers. They are confronted by Andrea. Maria tells Bond to go find her brother and kill him - she can handle her brother’s plaything. Andrea opens fire at a retreating Bond, but is soon tackled by Maria. Andrea’s gun goes sliding across the floor. Maria and Andrea both scramble after the gun, but Maria gets to it first and aims it right at Andrea. Andrea claims that Maria doesn’t have the guts to pull the trigger. Maria then promptly does so, proving Andrea wrong and killing her with a shot to the head.
Bond makes his way through the jungle surrounding the mansion, eventually making it to the beach where he finds Scaramanga waiting for him. Scaramanga tells Bond that he’s not used to killing people without being paid for it, but he’s willing to make an exception for a British agent as dogged as Bond. Scaramanga then proposes that the two have an old fashioned pistol duel on the beach to resolve their differences. Seeing no other realistic option, Bond accepts Scaramanga’s proposal. As the two men begin to take their 20 paces, Bond predicts that Scaramanga will not wait the entire distance. After 18 paces, Bond dives into the sand. He’s hit in the shoulder by Scaramanga’s bullet, but Bond manages to hit Scaramanga in the heart with his shot. Bond goes over to Scaramanga, demanding to know who hired him. Scaramanga whispers “Spectre” before dying. Maria makes her way through the jungle to meet Bond on the beach. She retrieves Scaramanga’s gold ‘007’ bullet from Bond’s shoulder wound. Bond tosses the bullet into the Pacific Ocean.
Bond and Maria take Scaramanga’s yacht out onto the open sea. Bond reports back to MI6, informing M that Scaramanga has been dealt with. M tells Bond that as recognition of his work to restore honor to the British royal family, King Albert has proposed to award Bond a CMG medal. Bond declines the honor, preferring to remain anonymous. Bond ends the call early and joins Maria in bed. The two begin passionately kissing as the yacht continues out into the wide open Pacific Ocean.
In Paris, France, Auric Goldfinger enters a large room where he is surrounded by silhouetted figures. He tells the group that they may have a problem with James Bond, 007. He then places the gold 007 bullet on a large table before leaving.
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