I have always had mixed feelings on the Bond franchise. I think Sean Connery was fantastic as Bond but it has been so long since I have seen one of those films that I cannot honestly assess my feelings about them. I like Pierce Brosnon as an actor but I felt that the scripts for his Bond movies were fairly weak. That being said I was initially very doubtful about the casting of Daniel Craig and wasn’t sure that this was a film that I wanted to see. However, the marketing department did a fine job with this one as the first trailer I saw hooked me. Thus Monday evening saw Jeff, Cameron and I (there were more invited but life got in the way) at an early showing of Casino Royale.
Without going into a tremendous amount of detail about the story itself let me assure you that Casino Royale is a worthwhile addition to not only the Bond franchise but to the adventure/spy genre as a whole. This film covers the time that Bond first becomes a double O agent and it is the way this was handled that made the film entertaining. Instead of the suave, self-assured, unflappable James Bond that we are all used to we get a James Bond who is much more brutal, rough-around-the-edges, reckless….a James Bond that is trying to find his way in a very dangerous profession. The James Bond we all know is there, but just not as polished as we are used to seeing him.
Daniel Craig, it turns out, was a fantastic choice. Far better than any Bond we have seen for decades. His look and the way he portrayed the character were great. I bought him as Bond from the very opening sequence of the film. I was curious about what I would think of the leading lady, Eva Green.
There is no doubt that she’s beautiful, but her on-screen look was not as conventional as other, more recent Bond women. She too was terrific. The eyes are everything with her (not that she doesn’t look fantastic from head to toe), she has such expressive eyes. I really liked the way they handled the typical Bond womanizing in this one…in fact it didn’t seem typical. Gone are the obviously sexual names, no Pussy Galore’s here, and I loved the way they set up his future attitudes toward women with this film. I really liked their on-screen chemistry. Dame Judi Dench was her usual self. There isn’t much meat to this role for her but she is the perfect M. I also thought the supporting cast, from good guys to villains, was very good. Nice job for the casting department on this one.
The special effects and stunts for Casino Royale were very good. Jeff pointed out something that I too liked about this film: it did not rely on a bunch of high tech science fiction gadgetry. Laptops and cell phones were the tools of the trade. Despite the spectacular opening action sequence, worth the price of admission, this Bond film was really more about the story. And I liked that. A special mention needs to be made of the graphics for the title sequence as well. It was very well done.
Kudos to the creative team behind this one. It certainly ranks right up near the top of all the action oriented films I have seen this year. It made me want to go home and pull out some of my favorite spy PC games, especially the two in the No One Lives Forever franchise, and play them again. I hope to see it again this coming weekend with Mary and the D’s. Good stuff. I highly recommend it.
Great review too..
my only thing with Eva Green was that she looked like she didn’t know how to put on lipstick.
it was like a 12 yr old wearing her mother’s (too bright) lipstick. that’s all i could look at. her messy make-up job in those certain scenes.
I thought her lipstick when she was first introduced was all wrong as well…later on she looked great though, once the garish red was gone.
I am dying to see this movie. I hope to have the chance this weekend.
Thanks for the review…and for the congrats! Have a great Turkey Day.
I have been dying to see this for a while now – the first Bond I actually want to see… I think I’m going today, yay!
Happy Thanksgiving!
James Bond…I mean Sean Connery will always and forever be the only real Bond for me…Call me old skool but I do not even have an interest in seeing this new one.
You’re missing out Michelle, this is a great film.
Oh, I’m too jealous for words that you’ve seen it and I haven’t! I really want to see this one.
I absoultely loved this Bond film. The opening scene sucked me in and I was sold after that. I have to disagree with Carl on Judi Dench’s role. I thought it much larger than recent Bond films and more importantly it actually contributed to the story and yes the film actually had a story. I’ve never read any Bond novels but after seeing this film I’m actually considering trying one out. I think I’m going to go see this one again in theatre. It’s one you want to see on the big screen.
Can’t wait to see my FIRST bond film within the hour….and then I’ll weigh in on whether I’ll be seeing Casino Royale.
Can’t wait, though….shall be great fun with old friends (and the kids in the back room!)…
I honestly wouldn’t let any other Bond film weigh on your decision to see this one. Its good all on its own.
About the lipstick… its a character trait in the book Casino Royale. Its supposed to be bold and imposing and very very red. Blame it on Fleming guys…
Speaking of, after reading the first in the series I have decided to do all 14. Hey Carl Ill make that my winter book challenge 😉
Love your picture. Am a hard core Gaimen and Lucas fan. Saw a comment on another blog and thought, ‘too cool have to check out.’ Thanks for not disappointing.
Oh yeah. I loved the movie too.
Thanks for the visit Nessie. After seeing this one I’ve decided that I really need to give Fleming a try and at least read one of the Bond books sometime soon…probably not until the new year, however.
James and I had a great time seeing this one! I love his blue eyes. My dad has really blue eyes like that. I couldn’t stop staring at his beautiful blues.
We had a nice time with everyone. Sorry about the Hairy Mail. I couldn’t resist. It’s Angela’s fault!!!! Hehe!
I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. I had promised to take my grandson. I’m very partial to Sean Connary. I came out of there having decided to read some of the books. Isn’t it interesting the number of people who also decided to check out the books. Why do you suppose this version made people want to go to the source?
Glad you enjoyed it Jules, we had a really good time. Glad you too enjoyed it Pat! I’m not sure. I definitely want to read this book now as I know it is faithful to some aspects of the story and yet the story was obviously set in a different time and a different world climate when it was written. I think the positive reception to this one is that Daniel Craig did an excellent job and also because it gives some explanation as to why Bond is the way that he is portrayed in other films.
This was a very good movie experience, well worth the now $9.00! In fact the whole evening was really wonderful. I am a fan of the Bond movies though and they are a historical movie series that Karen and I go to the theater to see, much like the Rocky movies. I know I show my age but I have seen I think all of the modern Bonds in the theaters and all the Rocky movies in the theaters. It’s like fans of Star Wars have to see them in the theaters. I’m looking forward to Rocky Balboa, it’s the character and the whole rags-riches-rags-meaning/leaving a legacy thing more than a 60 year old boxing. Haven’t heard good things about The Fountain which is disappointing and a good friend told me he loved Happy Feet until the end which he said became political.
I always find that there is a fine line between caring about the environment and being political. I didn’t feel like the environmental message of Happy Feet was too preachy. It was a little preachy, but not bad. I think there is a responsible middle ground that people on both sides of environmental issues can inhabit but we don’t often see people promoting anything like this…it is usually fanatical on both sides.
I’m disappointed in the Fountain’s reviews as well and eventhough I still want to see it the increased movie ticket prices make it hard to pull the trigger. I can’t believe that paying for two people to go to the movies costs more than waiting and buying the DVD. Its ridiculous.
I will no doubt see Rocky on DVD but I don’t think I can pay any amount of money to see it in the theatre.
I saw it this weekend and was pleasantly surprised. I haven’t been a big fan of the Bond movies but I rather liked this one. My only quibble was that it was a bit too long then again I don’t like long movies so it could have been me. It just felt a bit slow towards the end.
I actually didn’t mind the slow parts though the first time I saw it I thought it was actually ending long before it did and at the time thought is was a really strange way to end the film. To me the length and slower parts took it out of the realm of being another mindless non-stop-action film.
lol i had to come back and read your review after finally seeing the movie and … i didn’t notice her lipstick or much or anything else except for Bond…James Bond…oh my!