Casino Royale
Having watched James Bond ever since A View to a Kill in 1986 - I think it was then - when I was only a weee lad of 10, I've tried my best to catch every Bond movie since then. Many have said that Casino Royale was a new beginning in the franchise, sort of like what Marvel have done with their comic series characters. For those who don't know, Casino Royale is set in the beginning which showed how Bond became Bond. This is a Bond who's dark, gritty, and shows more cuts, bruises, dirt, etc etc etc. than the previous Bonds so far and it shows.
In fact, the first scene is shot in grey almost like it's supposed to be a memory we're watching. The movie loses much of it's double edged humour in this incarnation but provides more wordplay between Bond and the other characters, most notably Eva Green who plays his love interest. Instead of the witty one-liners with double meanings there is now notable banter, comebacks, etc. that last longer than your average 5 seconds. Maybe the production team wanted a Bond - who is more intelligent, calculating and analyzing than before. Nonetheless it's a very obvious shift from the past.
One thing though, I think Eva Green gets stuck with the tragic characters, like in Kingdom of Heaven. The final scenes were interesting because I'm still wondering how they shot the underwater scene. Maybe it was CG in the end with the building and the lift but it looked like chaos in there. The only drawback would be the movie's length. The first action scene took like 15 minutes. Then another airport chase. Then the casino where there are fights/Scares aplenty. Then the final scenes where there's another *surprise* firefight, and at the end I got bored of all the action. Action is good, but too much is..... well it becomes boring and mundane.
Some things I was a little disapointed about though, was the fact that it was hinted to have more scenes for Ivana Milicevic who plays the Villian's girlfriend but there were not many other than her screaming - which was a total letdown. Speaking of the Villian, Le Chiffre, it turns out he's quite a crap villian who only knows how to do two things well. Act menacing and beg for his life like a wuss. Pretty crap for a villian if you ask me. Perhaps they should have taken some more time to work on his character to flesh it out a bit. The plot is complicated, much more than most Bond plots in the past, and that's a nice plus, but again, too much action clogs it up such that by the end of the movie, I was thankful it ended so I could finally go home. Another minus of such a complicated plot is the fact that there are so many characters that each could perhaps been developed more but in with the lack of time, there was no possibility so what we get are 2 dimensional people doing certain roles and not much more.
Judi Dench as M still kicks ass in this movie, and I have to say she has a great screen presence - almost overpowering - in the scenes that she's in with Bond especially after he seems to know everything about her. I missed Q and R though. No more crazy crackpot inventors from the labs with malfunctioning equipment. :(
I'd give it 6 or 7 out of 10 tops after some reflection but to each his own.
On another note, I saw the trailer for Smoking Aces and the Departed which should prove to be good. I'm hoping I get to see the Departed before leaving for the UK because it looks really really good.
In fact, the first scene is shot in grey almost like it's supposed to be a memory we're watching. The movie loses much of it's double edged humour in this incarnation but provides more wordplay between Bond and the other characters, most notably Eva Green who plays his love interest. Instead of the witty one-liners with double meanings there is now notable banter, comebacks, etc. that last longer than your average 5 seconds. Maybe the production team wanted a Bond - who is more intelligent, calculating and analyzing than before. Nonetheless it's a very obvious shift from the past.
One thing though, I think Eva Green gets stuck with the tragic characters, like in Kingdom of Heaven. The final scenes were interesting because I'm still wondering how they shot the underwater scene. Maybe it was CG in the end with the building and the lift but it looked like chaos in there. The only drawback would be the movie's length. The first action scene took like 15 minutes. Then another airport chase. Then the casino where there are fights/Scares aplenty. Then the final scenes where there's another *surprise* firefight, and at the end I got bored of all the action. Action is good, but too much is..... well it becomes boring and mundane.
Some things I was a little disapointed about though, was the fact that it was hinted to have more scenes for Ivana Milicevic who plays the Villian's girlfriend but there were not many other than her screaming - which was a total letdown. Speaking of the Villian, Le Chiffre, it turns out he's quite a crap villian who only knows how to do two things well. Act menacing and beg for his life like a wuss. Pretty crap for a villian if you ask me. Perhaps they should have taken some more time to work on his character to flesh it out a bit. The plot is complicated, much more than most Bond plots in the past, and that's a nice plus, but again, too much action clogs it up such that by the end of the movie, I was thankful it ended so I could finally go home. Another minus of such a complicated plot is the fact that there are so many characters that each could perhaps been developed more but in with the lack of time, there was no possibility so what we get are 2 dimensional people doing certain roles and not much more.
Judi Dench as M still kicks ass in this movie, and I have to say she has a great screen presence - almost overpowering - in the scenes that she's in with Bond especially after he seems to know everything about her. I missed Q and R though. No more crazy crackpot inventors from the labs with malfunctioning equipment. :(
I'd give it 6 or 7 out of 10 tops after some reflection but to each his own.
On another note, I saw the trailer for Smoking Aces and the Departed which should prove to be good. I'm hoping I get to see the Departed before leaving for the UK because it looks really really good.
posted by Dippers at 3:08 PM
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