So with much fanfare and hype, the James Bond series rebooted itself once again this past weekend, and all was good again in the world of Bond. Reviews were great, Daniel Craig seems to have stepped up and done a more than credible job as the new Bond, and the series has a "grittier, more realistic" feel. Doesn't sound bad. But then, we've heard that all before, right? Anyone else remember Timothy Dalton saying he was trying to bring the character "back to it's roots" and make him more real? And we all know how those Bond films fared. (I don't know what Bond he was channeling, but the 'heart on his sleeve' Bond that he brought to the screen was one of the more boring excursions of the series.)
By no means coincidentally, I'm sure, Spike TV started its apparently annual Bond marathon this week, and I managed to catch the last of the Brosnan Bond films, Die Another Day. By no means the worst of Brosnan's Bond films (that "honor" has to go to The World is not Enough, I think), you do have to suffer with some pretty ridiculous stuff—an invisible BMW, a death-ray from space (why is it that, whenever the Bond films jump the shark, space is involved?) and, what has to be the most embarrassing Bond moment ever, the "surfing the tidal wave" scene after the heat-ray melts the face of an iceberg.
The funny thing is that I really liked Brosnan as Bond, and was among the many bemoaning the fact that they took the franchise away from him so precipitously. But the series was going the way of the later Roger Moore films after its first two outings, so I guess we shouldn't have been surprised by the change. Ironically, from everything I read at the time, this new, grittier Bond was exactly the kind of film Brosnan wanted to make, but never got a chance to.
So how was Casino Royale? I've got to admit that I'm jumping on the bandwagon here and saying they really nailed it this time. This is, by far, the best Bond film since, at least, Goldeneye (my favorite of Brosnan's Bond films), and easily one of the best in the series. Daniel Craig makes a great Bond, bringing a sense of reality to the character, making me believe that this guy is capable of the cold-bloodedness needed to be what amounts to a government assassin. (I also like the reference M makes to his being a "blunt instrument" as that's what Fleming describes his original imagining of the Bond character to be… not a hero, but a blunt instrument wielded by his government.) He IS darker, edgier, perhaps a bit more sociopathic than we've seen before. He's also more vulnerable… he gets hurt in his fights and doesn't come away unscathed. The action feels more grounded and Craig's Bond feels more like a spy than some kind of high-tech superhero. The intro, where Bond earns his double-0 rank sets the tone, and the opening chase/shoot-out, where they manage to raise the stakes for Bond, and yet keep it all within the realm of, if not reality, at least willing suspension of disbelief, kicks everything off nicely.
I found the choice and character of the villain this time around really interesting (yes, I know he comes from the book, but when has that ever stopped this series from taking it to extremes? Ever read The Man with the Golden Gun?) Le Chiffre is not some megalomaniacal evil genius… he's a bad man with a lot of money and power. But he's also got people that he must answer to (and, ultimately, does) and his desperation makes him a more interesting character. I also like his views on torture, when he mocks elaborate games and settles for a (very disturbing) simple means of torturing Bond. And I found that Global Terrorism does an excellent job of replacing SMERSH, SPECTRE, Soviet spys and (need I say it?) drug cartels as Bond's "big picture" nemesis.
This is not to say the the movie is without it flaws. I was totally unimpressed by the opening credit montage. I understand the argument that the producers might want to back away from the nude silhouettes so as not to alienate their female audience, but what they came up with in its place was so bland and uninteresting that I was wishing for a fast forward button. The movie also suffers a bit from Return of the King syndrome, with what feels like as many as four different "it's almost over now" moments, which probably contributes more to the feeling that it's a long movie than it's actual 2½ hour running time.
More damning is that a good portion of the extra ending running time is somewhat questionable, in story terms. (YES, YES… spoiler alert, blah, blah, blah. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I'm going to talk about the ending. Get over it, or go away now.)
From the moment Bond wakes up in the hospital, till his final "Bond, James Bond" moment, we're given a very flashy, gunshot and explosion filled exercise in Bondian excess, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. He's won the casino pot, the account number and password have been entered into the Swiss banker's über-laptop, and then it's off to recuperate and fall in love (shades of On Her Majesty's Secret Service!). Then we learn that Vesper (Bond's new love) is stealing the money to give to the villain with the eye patch, and it's on to deconstructing Venice. But, if Vesper knows the bank account and the password (since Bond so lovingly shared it with her) then why can't she simply give that info to the bad guys and thus free her captured fiancé. Then they can simply wire transfer the money to their hearts content. (Don't try and tell me these guys can't hack the bank for these funds if they've got both the account number and login info, all right?). Of course, that's hardly a dramatic resolution, so we have to have the more convoluted and illogical "Vesper withdraws the money and carries it, in her tiny little briefcase, to the bad guys, just happening to wear a bright red dress so James can hardly miss her" plotline. And, since Vesper was a bad girl and deserves to be punished (and James Bond can't have a lover that survives) she gets locked in an elevator cage and left to… well whatever, since the bad guys couldn't have known Bond was going to collapse the building and thus drown her when they locked her up in that cage.
Suffice it to say, your willing suspension of disbelief is going to be strained to its utmost by the end of Casino Royale. But if you don't mind taking on that strain (and really, who's going to a James Bond film without a healthy ability to suspend their disbelief) this is a ride well worth taking.
By no means coincidentally, I'm sure, Spike TV started its apparently annual Bond marathon this week, and I managed to catch the last of the Brosnan Bond films, Die Another Day. By no means the worst of Brosnan's Bond films (that "honor" has to go to The World is not Enough, I think), you do have to suffer with some pretty ridiculous stuff—an invisible BMW, a death-ray from space (why is it that, whenever the Bond films jump the shark, space is involved?) and, what has to be the most embarrassing Bond moment ever, the "surfing the tidal wave" scene after the heat-ray melts the face of an iceberg.
The funny thing is that I really liked Brosnan as Bond, and was among the many bemoaning the fact that they took the franchise away from him so precipitously. But the series was going the way of the later Roger Moore films after its first two outings, so I guess we shouldn't have been surprised by the change. Ironically, from everything I read at the time, this new, grittier Bond was exactly the kind of film Brosnan wanted to make, but never got a chance to.
So how was Casino Royale? I've got to admit that I'm jumping on the bandwagon here and saying they really nailed it this time. This is, by far, the best Bond film since, at least, Goldeneye (my favorite of Brosnan's Bond films), and easily one of the best in the series. Daniel Craig makes a great Bond, bringing a sense of reality to the character, making me believe that this guy is capable of the cold-bloodedness needed to be what amounts to a government assassin. (I also like the reference M makes to his being a "blunt instrument" as that's what Fleming describes his original imagining of the Bond character to be… not a hero, but a blunt instrument wielded by his government.) He IS darker, edgier, perhaps a bit more sociopathic than we've seen before. He's also more vulnerable… he gets hurt in his fights and doesn't come away unscathed. The action feels more grounded and Craig's Bond feels more like a spy than some kind of high-tech superhero. The intro, where Bond earns his double-0 rank sets the tone, and the opening chase/shoot-out, where they manage to raise the stakes for Bond, and yet keep it all within the realm of, if not reality, at least willing suspension of disbelief, kicks everything off nicely.
I found the choice and character of the villain this time around really interesting (yes, I know he comes from the book, but when has that ever stopped this series from taking it to extremes? Ever read The Man with the Golden Gun?) Le Chiffre is not some megalomaniacal evil genius… he's a bad man with a lot of money and power. But he's also got people that he must answer to (and, ultimately, does) and his desperation makes him a more interesting character. I also like his views on torture, when he mocks elaborate games and settles for a (very disturbing) simple means of torturing Bond. And I found that Global Terrorism does an excellent job of replacing SMERSH, SPECTRE, Soviet spys and (need I say it?) drug cartels as Bond's "big picture" nemesis.
This is not to say the the movie is without it flaws. I was totally unimpressed by the opening credit montage. I understand the argument that the producers might want to back away from the nude silhouettes so as not to alienate their female audience, but what they came up with in its place was so bland and uninteresting that I was wishing for a fast forward button. The movie also suffers a bit from Return of the King syndrome, with what feels like as many as four different "it's almost over now" moments, which probably contributes more to the feeling that it's a long movie than it's actual 2½ hour running time.
More damning is that a good portion of the extra ending running time is somewhat questionable, in story terms. (YES, YES… spoiler alert, blah, blah, blah. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I'm going to talk about the ending. Get over it, or go away now.)
From the moment Bond wakes up in the hospital, till his final "Bond, James Bond" moment, we're given a very flashy, gunshot and explosion filled exercise in Bondian excess, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. He's won the casino pot, the account number and password have been entered into the Swiss banker's über-laptop, and then it's off to recuperate and fall in love (shades of On Her Majesty's Secret Service!). Then we learn that Vesper (Bond's new love) is stealing the money to give to the villain with the eye patch, and it's on to deconstructing Venice. But, if Vesper knows the bank account and the password (since Bond so lovingly shared it with her) then why can't she simply give that info to the bad guys and thus free her captured fiancé. Then they can simply wire transfer the money to their hearts content. (Don't try and tell me these guys can't hack the bank for these funds if they've got both the account number and login info, all right?). Of course, that's hardly a dramatic resolution, so we have to have the more convoluted and illogical "Vesper withdraws the money and carries it, in her tiny little briefcase, to the bad guys, just happening to wear a bright red dress so James can hardly miss her" plotline. And, since Vesper was a bad girl and deserves to be punished (and James Bond can't have a lover that survives) she gets locked in an elevator cage and left to… well whatever, since the bad guys couldn't have known Bond was going to collapse the building and thus drown her when they locked her up in that cage.
Suffice it to say, your willing suspension of disbelief is going to be strained to its utmost by the end of Casino Royale. But if you don't mind taking on that strain (and really, who's going to a James Bond film without a healthy ability to suspend their disbelief) this is a ride well worth taking.
Comments
But, all was well when they used the last line of the book, "The bitch is dead." Yes!!
I pretty much agree with you. Great movie, great Bond. They finally did it. The stairwell fight was perfect. The torture scene was a nightmare straight from page to screen.
I'm excited Bond finally decides to wear the same watch as I have (Omega Planet Ocean...but, why does he have to call it Oh-mee-guh?).
And, while terrorism makes a good enemy...I'm REALLY hoping this is SPECTRE behind all this. SPECTRE is soooo much cooler than radical Islam.
Q
I haven't read the book (yet, it's sitting in my bookcase now), but that explains the line. Seemed a little harsh the way they played it, but now I get it.