On Friday we went to watch Casino Royale. We were impressed. When we first saw the trailers a few months back I wasn’t sure what to expect, particularly as all the trailers seemed to be just of Daniel Craig’s steely blue eyes, and pursed up lips expression (his constipated look as Sweetums described it).
But no. We really enjoyed this film. And Daniel Craig didn’t have that expression all the time, thank goodness. To me, James Bond in the re-made Casino Royale was more like James Bond is supposed to be, a suave ruthless spy and killer who likes what he does but recognises it will probably consume him, rather than just a suave debonair spy with a bunch of easy one liners.
As I have the majority of the Bond stable on DVD – Connery-Bond, Lazenby-Bond, Moore-Bond, Dalton-Bond and Brosnan-Bond I had naturally based my expectations of Casino Royal on these. My expectations were exceeded – and not just because Daniel Craig has an exceedingly nice bod. There was never a dull moment, plenty of action, good chemistry between the actors and a good story arc. Fairly violent too.
Knowing how to play Poker added that little bit extra for me – because not only could I follow the poker game, ( Texas Hold ‘Em), but knew exactly what moves each of the players would then have to make and the implications. In fact, the only quibble I have about Casino Royal was around the Poker finale – the very last 3 minutes or so of the game. If you haven’t watched the film I don’t want to spoil it for you by describing the exact scene, but if you have watched it AND understand the rules of Texas Hold ‘Em, you will know what I mean. Kind of re-writing the rules for effect, we thought.
Casino Royal is so different from the previous Bond films that I can see some Bond purists having a problem with it. For example, some already complain about the “Shaken or Stirred” line in the film. I actually think his response “Do I look like I give a damn?” is brilliant and is far more effective than trotting out the same old response – that everyone expects. And some may miss Q. I personally didn’t.
In terms of the James Bond – 007 films, I see Casino Royale as drawing a line in the sand, a break from the past, but one that still retains some of what made the Bond films successful. It is quite different, a much tighter, much tenser film. Daniel Craig IMO is a very good 007. He gets hurt as a result of his exploits (and torture) and doesn’t simply get up and dust himself off with a quick quip then climb into a flying car or some other eyebrow-raising contraption. I see a huge creative opportunity in terms of the franchise and whether Daniel Craig plays him or someone else does, I hope they go back and remake all the Bond films – based on the books.
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to the next 007.
{ 6 comments }
Oh yes, yes, yes I loved it!
I liked the recent bonds as Mr Brosnan wasn’t exactly hit with the ugly stick but the movies were getting a little bloated with ever more implausible stunts. It was refreshing to get back to fisticuffs, heh. And I believe he has signed up for at least one more as his imdb.com page lists an untitled Bond in pre-production.
The only bug for me (I don’t a clue about poker) was the inhaler used by one of the characters. He inhaled then exhaled straight away. For an inhaler to be effective, the breath should be held for a few seconds. A really minor point but it bugged me each time I saw it.
That said, everything else was spot on. Much more gritty and realistic whilst providing an insight into mind of Bond.
And what a gorgeous Bond with even more gorgeous blue eyes …
Perhaps Felmming was ahead of his time but in this day and age it is not asking too much to accept that terrorist organizations are doing just this sort of thing. So while Bond is not up in space blowing up a space station, intellectually battling terrorist financiers at cards just adds to the realism. I hope the next Bond is also rooted in modern reality. I would love to see Goldfinger remade. And from the Moore era I’d wish for Man With The Golden Gun.
Oh and what did zou think of the title song? I thought the title of it was good and very Bondesque but it wasn’t very memorable like those of the 60s and 70s.
Had the opportunity to see 007 in action yesterday afternoon and we were very pleased. Daniel Craig proved to be a good Bond.
Casino Royale as done by EON Productions was excellent. They stayed fairly close to the book (although I haven’t read it in a long, long time). I thought it was interesting that the card game played was Texas Hold’em instead of Baccarat; as in the book, but I guess that a lot more people could relate to poker.
I also thought they did a good job showing how Bond became Bond throught the course of the movie. The women were hot (as usual) and the villian Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) was excellent.
I also thought they did a great job on the opening credits, which had a very 60’s kind of feel to it.
And a great job of tidying the loose ends of: “Bond, James Bond,” “shaken not stirred” and the Monty Norman; Bond theme to the entire genre.
Overall, I have to give the film a big thumbs up.
@Rhea – yes I wondered about the inhaler, but I wasn’t sure – until you mentioned it here. And oh yes, Bond is a bit of alright
.
@Mosh – I felt I could relate much more to the terrorist theme than many previous plots, I think terrorists always been about, but sadly now they are very much a reality we can’t ignore. I’m also hoping modern reality roots the next Bond film – that would be great. I liked the title song – but I can’t remember it! It was, as you say, unmemorable. Whereas I CAN remember several of the other Bond theme songs almost word for word – e.g. “Diamonds Are Forever” “You Only Live Twice”, “Goldfinger”, “The Living Daylights” “The World is Not Enough, “License to Kill…”
I loved the opening credit theme though… marvellous. As Mike said, very 60’s feel to it. Though I kept half-expecting the naked silhouetted dancing women to appear… I quite missed them
.
@Mike – As you say the choice of Poker could be a nod to how popular Poker, particularly Texas Hold ‘Em, has become over the past couple of years – it really has exploded worldwide. I would almost bet (no pun intended of course) that more of the audience could relate to and understand Poker than Baccarat – another nod to modernity. Being a Poker player and one who also watches a lot of Poker, actually watching a high stakes game like that and being able to understand it to the extent that I could spot a small anomaly certainly added enormously to my enjoyment of the film.
Edit – interesting tidbit… also found out that before the advent of Poker baccarat was considered the highest stakes gambling game in the world for a long time. But now No Limit Hold ‘Em has the cachet and can have huge “winner take all” pots.
I thought the credits of the 80s Bonds were the worst so I too am glad they have gone back to 60s/70s design. Glad to see I’m not the only one who missed the naked silhouetted women
I hope Marice Binder is not turning in his grave. I think the title tune is called “You Know My Name”. I’m going to go and see it again, this taking with me a pen and notepad to write down the ingredients for the “Vesper”.
Comments on this entry are closed.