007 returns… For the very first time…
Well, as many of you probably guessed by my Myspace theme, I went to see Casino Royale on Friday. A lot of people were apprehensive about it. “Daniel Craig’s not Bond,” they said. “He doesn’t look right.” “He can’t drive a stick shift.” What do I have to say about this?
The critics can go suck on exhaust from Bond’s Aston’s tailpipe. The movie rocked.
It starts off uncharacteristically, Bond movies have always had a high-action sequence before the credits roll (“Dr. No” being one of the few exceptions). This one, however, didn’t have a really high action sequence, and the entire opening sequence was in black & white. Odd, but I think it was a nice touch, as it gave us the chance to see 007’s first two kills and stylistically differ it from the rest of the film (Before he was a 00 and after he was promoted).
The opening credits, I’m pleased to say, I was able to watch without feeling dirty (as there wasn’t a motion-captured stripper overlaid with some random effect texture to be seen), and, to top it all off, Chris Cornell’s theme “You know my name” played well over it. The whole credits felt retro, and yet altogether new, and while it took a while to warm up to it, I liked Cornell’s theme. It twinges with a certain irony, yes we know 007’s name, but at the same time, this Bond is before we knew him, and, fittingly enough, with it being Daniel Craig’s first outing as Bond, we know the name and don’t know it all at once.
The first high action sequence takes place in Madagascar, where Bond takes to chasing a bomb-maker through Madagascar, the bomb-maker he’s chasing, played by Sebastien Foucan, one of the founding fathers of Parkour (Invented by the French, I don’t know the exact translation but I believe it’s the art of fleeing… Finally a Frenchman who’s not only embraced his heritage, but has found good use for it! =), is a little too athletic for our hero, but what stands out is 007’s ability to find shortcuts so he doesn’t have to work as hard. Finally winds up with him catching the bomb-maker but being trapped by the army on a embassy grounds, so he finds a rather “explosive” method of escape. Unfortunately, he’s caught on Camera, and we next see M after a meeting at the house of commons. (Which leads to the memorable quote about M missing the Cold War. Finally, you see M as she should be… A forceful presence and not a set piece to Brosnan. Commanding performance on Dench’s part for this one).
Bond ultimately winds up in the Bahamas, tracking down leads on the bomb maker’s contact, a poker player with a classic Aston Martin DB5. He also happens to be a blithering idiot who doesn’t know when to stop (Good thing for Bond, though, gets him out of the Ford he looked so awkward in when he arrived). After spending some quality time with the loser’s wife (who, suprisingly, he doesn’t sleep with), he finds out where her husband is heading out, and after ordering Champagne and Caviar while she goes to “get ready”, he follows the man to Miami, totally skipping over what, admittedly, I was expecting to be another borderline porn-fest (Again, please note the last FOUR Bond films were racier each time out), for the next big action sequence… at Miami International airport. Bond foils an attempt to make an airline manufacturer’s stock plummet with the destruction of their major airline, which causes problems for the main villain, Le Chiffre.
Le Chiffre is a refreshing change from the stereotypical Bond villain, he’s not out to take over the world (unlike all four of Brosnan’s villains), he’s just the investment banker for the world’s terrorists, trying to earn a dishonest buck funding rebels in Uganda. When the airliner doesn’t blow, LeChiffre’s plan to make 150 million for his client leaves him in a bit of hot water, so he does what any mathematical genius who wants to keep his genitals intact would do: Sets up a high-stakes Poker game to win back the money he lost.
Well, Bond’s the best player MI6 has, so they send him in, along with the beautiful Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green). From the very moment the two meet, their chemistry clicks. It becomes very obvious that Vesper is clearly a match for 007, and their dialogue crackles. Probably the best lines between them initially come during a car ride conversation about how they’re to be playing lovers in Montenegro:
Vesper Lynd: Am I going to have a problem with you, Bond?
James Bond: No, dont worry. You’re not my type.
Vesper Lynd: Smart?
James Bond: Single.
Admittedly, the poker game seems to drag on, but it’s thankfully intersparsed with some action sequences (Bond fighting off Le Chiffre’s angry clients, Bond nearly dying), and in the end, Bond wins it all. Then, LeChiffre has to go and kidnap the girl, drawing out Bond, and leading to the only part of the movie that made me cry… The destruction of one of the most beautiful cars ever built, the Aston-Martin DBS. I knew it was coming from the trailer, I promised I wouldn’t cry, but my eyes welled up, flip after painstakingly long flip…
Well, LeChiffre’s men take Bond and Vesper to a cargo ship to interrogate them, and LeChiffre’s methods for Bond are particularly painstaking (Naked man, chair with a hole in the seat, and rope with hard tip used to hit those “hard to reach” places on him… You do the math). But Bond, being the man he is, kept his wits about him and manages to not yield. After a passionate speech LeChiffre makes about yielding in time, Bond essentially spits in his face.
Bond: I have an itch… down there… [gestures with his nose] Do you mind?
[LeChiffre swings the rope up under the chair, Bond cries out in pain]
Bond: NO! No… No… A little farther to the left.
The torture scene, while sinister, is also amusing because of Bond’s ability to take a hit and use his trademarked sarcasm. And admittedly, Craig looks like a guy who could take a few hits to the nether regions and still come out okay, so it works. LeChiffre finally decides to take matters into his own hands and prematurely end 007’s sexual prowess, but someone intervenes, LeChiffre bites it, and 007 wakes up in a recovery room at a hospital.
I don’t want to give away too much of the movie, but we also find out how he started drinking dry vodka martinis, shaken, not stirred, and what he calls that drink as well. We see him with the opportunity to settle down, leave the service, and be “normal”, but he doesn’t. In the end, Bond is still Bond, and for the first time in a long time, I’m ready for the next one. Brosnan may have been Bond, but now Craig is Bond. Get used to it, he’s got two more in his contract. And quit whining. If you’d sit down, shut up, and actually pay attention to the plot, you’d probably like it more than if you’re complaining about his hair, eyes, etc. James Bond WILL return, and I’m excited.
Congrats, Danny-boy, you’ve convinced a skeptic like me.
9.5/10 (And I only dock the half point because of the car incident. Had the car lived, I would’ve given it a 10, easy).
[...] Now anyone who knows me knows I’ve always enjoyed the Bond franchise. Maybe it was the gadgets, maybe it was the guns, maybeit was that part of me as a child that always thought how neat it would be to be a spy (this is the glorified spy, the one that doesn’t have to do things of questionable nature to accomplish his tasks but gets all the fun of sneaking around and doing secretive stuff… You know, before you realize that occasionally they have to hurt people). But I’ve always enjoyed them. And I did truly enjoy the first of the Daniel Craig-era bond films, Casino Royale (See my previous review). [...]