22 replies to this topic

[JCRendle]

http://www.rollingst...4/casino_royale

There's one whopper of a reason why Casino Royale is the hippest, highest-octane Bond film in ages, and his name is Daniel Craig. This rugged, jug-eared Brit, whose irregular features improbably radiate a megawatt star charisma, gets the last laugh on the Internet buzz killers who've been ragging on him at craignotbond.com for being blond and blue-eyed and too short (five-eleven) for Bond duty. Not only is Craig, 38, the best Bond since Sean Connery, he's the first of the Bonds (great Scot Connery, one-shot George Lazenby, charmer Roger Moore, stuff-shirt Timothy Dalton and smoothie Pierce Brosnan) to lose the condescension and take the role seriously.

Craig reinvigorates a fagged-out franchise that's been laying on bigger stunts and sillier gadgets to disguise the fact that it's run out of ideas. And he does it with an actor's skill, an athlete's grace and a dangerous glint that puts you on notice that Bond, James Bond, is back in business.

Sad to say, Casino Royale is also weighed down by action-business-as-usual. Craig's a live wire, closer to the blunt instrument Ian Fleming imagined when he created the character in 1953, but he can't mess too much with the winning formula begun with 1962's Dr. No. Bond producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who died in 1996, left the golden goose in the care of his daughter Barbara Broccoli and his stepson Michael Wilson, who fully grasp that the four stunt-loaded Bond flicks with Brosnan are the most lucrative in the twenty-film series and that they can't spend $150 million to produce a 007 art film.

Still, the producers deserve credit for busting Bond at least partly out of the box. The film opens promisingly with a scene - strikingly shot in black-and-white - that sets up Bond as an MI6 agent who may be too much of a hothead to earn double-0 status and a license to kill. Then come the familiar credits, and the typical song ("You Know My Name," by Chris Cornell), followed by a full-bore, full-color foot chase across rooftops in Africa. Though efficiently directed by GoldenEye's Martin Campbell, the chase stalls the movie and, worse, delays getting us up close and personal with Craig. Seeing him run and sweat isn't half as much fun as seeing him act.

After that, everything gets better. Casino Royale, heavier on character than action, was the first book in Fleming's Bond series, making it the ideal place to start the wheel spinning anew. That's right, Casino Royale acts like the other Bond movies never existed. We're back at square one, only the time is now, the fantasy is limited and the story is anchored in reality. Q, with his gadgets and invisible cars, is nowhere to be seen. The tone is set when Bond orders a martini. "Shaken or stirred?" asks the bartender. Craig delivers the answer straight-up and bone-dry: "Do I look like I give a damn?"

And we're off, with even the stock elements getting a fresh twist. Take the villain: He's Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker who launders money for terrorists. It's a bit of a Dr. Evil parody that Le Chiffre cries tears of blood, but Mikkelsen, a star in his native Denmark, gives off a genuine eww vibe, especially when he tortures Bond with a testicle squeeze and pauses to leer at his naked body. Hero and villain go at it most excitingly over a poker table at Montenegro's Casino Royale, where a test of character, not strength, will determine the eventual winner.

What about the Bond girls? The gorgeous Caterina Murino sizzles as Solange, a babe he takes back to his hotel room for a roll on the floor that causes serious rug burns. But it's Eva Green as Vesper Lynd, a British treasury operative sent to stake Bond at the poker tables, who lifts her role to class-act status. Oscar winner Paul Haggis (Crash) contributes sly dialogue to a script that goes far beyond kiss-kiss/bang-bang. A scene in which Bond and Vesper attempt to guess each other's past histories trumps its comic zing with romantic gravity.

It also helps that Craig is mixing it up with a first-rate cast, including Jeffrey Wright as CIA agent Felix Leiter, Giancarlo Giannini as MI6 contact Mathis, and most especially Judi Dench, back in the game as M, Bond's boss. Dame Judi put her power on hold in the lightweight Brosnan films, but with Craig she comes out blazing, knowing she's found an actor who can give as good as he gets.

As the plot globe-trots from Prague, London, Miami and the Bahamas to an overblown climax in the canals of Venice, Casino Royale uncovers something unique in the 007 dossier: an unformed secret-agent man, lacking polish, vulnerable to violence and helplessly lost in love. Craig gives us James Bond in the fascinating act of inventing himself. This you do not want to miss.


PETER TRAVERS

[K1Bond007]

Craig reinvigorates a fagged-out franchise...

Heh.. I had to use the dictionary on this one. I had no idea there was a third meaning with that one. Interesting choice of words at least in this day and age.

Good review though.

[Jim]

...ooh

[kneelbeforezod]

Great stuff... I keep hearing criticism of the Venice climax, I wonder if that's the point where I'll be rolling my eyes and remembering why I've always thought Campbell was a pretty heavy-handed director.

[doubler83]

Um... testicle squeeze? I thought they got whacked. Now I'm beginning to wonder if LeChiffre ties the rope around said testicles and tightens it instead of hitting them.

Oh God

[blueman]

How many times are we gonna here that Craig is the best Bond since Connery, is the best thing about CR, etc.? Sounds as if Craig is now the savior of the series, lol. Turnabout. Love it.

Edited by blueman, 13 November 2006 - 07:27 PM.

[JimmyBond]

Impressive review, he liked it, except for the African Rundown. Which I don't blame him for that, I've been arguing for months that it's too soon after the main titles, we barely know Craig's Bond yet.

[Simon]

Everyone certainly seems to be enjoying the character arc that is Bond 'learning'.

I am wondering if Craig can be given similar arcs for his remaining two films since I am certain this is a massive part of what he has signed up to do.

Afterall, he sees one script but signs for three films. Has he got a guarantee that the remaining two will offer as much progress as in this one?

[00Twelve]

^^That's my concern as well.

I seriously hope Bond doesn't return to "the agent we all know and love" too soon.

[LorneGuyland]

Lovely stuff! Another reviewer on whom the homoerotic subtext to which Landesman tantalisingly alluded is not lost; how a 'fagged-out' franchise was rejuvenated by some testicular 'squeezing' and its two male protagonists 'going at it most excitingly' over a poker table. I once read a scholarly article entitled: '"Alimentary, Dr Leiter": Anal Anxiety in Diamonds are Forever'. Rich pickings for the same author here, methinks; and potentially one of the most interesting, if comparatively unremarked, aspects of the movie.

[JimmyBond]

Uh...what? Fagged out means "tired"

[dinovelvet]

Um... testicle squeeze? I thought they got whacked. Now I'm beginning to wonder if LeChiffre ties the rope around said testicles and tightens it instead of hitting them.

Enough of your fantasies...

[LorneGuyland]

Uh...what? Fagged out means "tired"

Not where I come from it doesn't! Seriously, though, I think it's an interesting and plausible possibility that Le Chiffre exhibits a sexual obsession for Craig in this film; an obsession in which we, via shots of Craig rising Neptune-like from the surf etc, are invited to participate.

[bonded56]

MSNBC web site:"Not only is Daniel Craig believable as Bond, he

[Harmsway]

Seriously, though, I think it's an interesting and plausible possibility that Le Chiffre exhibits a sexual obsession for Craig in this film; an obsession in which we, via shots of Craig rising Neptune-like from the surf etc, are invited to participate.

Mikkelsen said in an interview that he would be portraying Le Chiffre with heavy hints that the character was a homosexual, so it's not even a possibility - it's *there*.

[VisualStatic]

After watching the clip of the tanker scene, and seeing them pull a Rockford with it, I can see why the initial actions is being not seeing as being all that great. It immediately reminded me of the semi popping a wheelie in LTK. Here to knowing the other 140 minutes will still be great.


Casino Royale Page at Yahoo

[dee-bee-five]

http://www.rollingst...4/casino_royale

There's one whopper of a reason why Casino Royale is the hippest, highest-octane Bond film in ages, and his name is Daniel Craig. This rugged, jug-eared Brit, whose irregular features improbably radiate a megawatt star charisma, gets the last laugh on the Internet buzz killers who've been ragging on him at craignotbond.com for being blond and blue-eyed and too short (five-eleven) for Bond duty. Not only is Craig, 38, the best Bond since Sean Connery, he's the first of the Bonds (great Scot Connery, one-shot George Lazenby, charmer Roger Moore, stuff-shirt Timothy Dalton and smoothie Pierce Brosnan) to lose the condescension and take the role seriously.

Craig reinvigorates a fagged-out franchise that's been laying on bigger stunts and sillier gadgets to disguise the fact that it's run out of ideas. And he does it with an actor's skill, an athlete's grace and a dangerous glint that puts you on notice that Bond, James Bond, is back in business.

Sad to say, Casino Royale is also weighed down by action-business-as-usual. Craig's a live wire, closer to the blunt instrument Ian Fleming imagined when he created the character in 1953, but he can't mess too much with the winning formula begun with 1962's Dr. No. Bond producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who died in 1996, left the golden goose in the care of his daughter Barbara Broccoli and his stepson Michael Wilson, who fully grasp that the four stunt-loaded Bond flicks with Brosnan are the most lucrative in the twenty-film series and that they can't spend $150 million to produce a 007 art film.

Still, the producers deserve credit for busting Bond at least partly out of the box. The film opens promisingly with a scene - strikingly shot in black-and-white - that sets up Bond as an MI6 agent who may be too much of a hothead to earn double-0 status and a license to kill. Then come the familiar credits, and the typical song ("You Know My Name," by Chris Cornell), followed by a full-bore, full-color foot chase across rooftops in Africa. Though efficiently directed by GoldenEye's Martin Campbell, the chase stalls the movie and, worse, delays getting us up close and personal with Craig. Seeing him run and sweat isn't half as much fun as seeing him act.

After that, everything gets better. Casino Royale, heavier on character than action, was the first book in Fleming's Bond series, making it the ideal place to start the wheel spinning anew. That's right, Casino Royale acts like the other Bond movies never existed. We're back at square one, only the time is now, the fantasy is limited and the story is anchored in reality. Q, with his gadgets and invisible cars, is nowhere to be seen. The tone is set when Bond orders a martini. "Shaken or stirred?" asks the bartender. Craig delivers the answer straight-up and bone-dry: "Do I look like I give a damn?"

And we're off, with even the stock elements getting a fresh twist. Take the villain: He's Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker who launders money for terrorists. It's a bit of a Dr. Evil parody that Le Chiffre cries tears of blood, but Mikkelsen, a star in his native Denmark, gives off a genuine eww vibe, especially when he tortures Bond with a testicle squeeze and pauses to leer at his naked body. Hero and villain go at it most excitingly over a poker table at Montenegro's Casino Royale, where a test of character, not strength, will determine the eventual winner.

What about the Bond girls? The gorgeous Caterina Murino sizzles as Solange, a babe he takes back to his hotel room for a roll on the floor that causes serious rug burns. But it's Eva Green as Vesper Lynd, a British treasury operative sent to stake Bond at the poker tables, who lifts her role to class-act status. Oscar winner Paul Haggis (Crash) contributes sly dialogue to a script that goes far beyond kiss-kiss/bang-bang. A scene in which Bond and Vesper attempt to guess each other's past histories trumps its comic zing with romantic gravity.

It also helps that Craig is mixing it up with a first-rate cast, including Jeffrey Wright as CIA agent Felix Leiter, Giancarlo Giannini as MI6 contact Mathis, and most especially Judi Dench, back in the game as M, Bond's boss. Dame Judi put her power on hold in the lightweight Brosnan films, but with Craig she comes out blazing, knowing she's found an actor who can give as good as he gets.

As the plot globe-trots from Prague, London, Miami and the Bahamas to an overblown climax in the canals of Venice, Casino Royale uncovers something unique in the 007 dossier: an unformed secret-agent man, lacking polish, vulnerable to violence and helplessly lost in love. Craig gives us James Bond in the fascinating act of inventing himself. This you do not want to miss.


PETER TRAVERS

Nice to see the reference to a "first rate" cast. Jeffrey Wright, quite rightly, isn't dismissed here as a D-Lister (as he has by one poster).

[Johnboy007]

[quote name='bonded56' post='645992' date='13 November 2006 - 16:22']
MSNBC web site:"Not only is Daniel Craig believable as Bond, he

[dee-bee-five]

Lovely stuff! Another reviewer on whom the homoerotic subtext to which Landesman tantalisingly alluded is not lost; how a 'fagged-out' franchise was rejuvenated by some testicular 'squeezing' and its two male protagonists 'going at it most excitingly' over a poker table. I once read a scholarly article entitled: '"Alimentary, Dr Leiter": Anal Anxiety in Diamonds are Forever'. Rich pickings for the same author here, methinks; and potentially one of the most interesting, if comparatively unremarked, aspects of the movie.

Cosmo Landesman will have meant tired when he used the term "fagged out"; that's what it means in England. "Fag" is also slang for a cigarette, so it's perfectly respectable to suck on a fag in the UK. (Actually, since Blair's government decreed that being a smoker is worse than being a terrorist, perhaps not).

[doubler83]

Enough of your fantasies...

Damn ... busted.

[Fro]

Very encouraging review from RS... Tavers is one of the country's top critics (at least they always quote him in ads when he loves stuff).

Seems like the main problem most of the critics have with the movie is getting upset about their not being enough action, or upset that they didn't go all the way with the serious story.

i.e., it has everything in spades, but that makes it too disjointed to be a perfect film.

Edited by Fro, 13 November 2006 - 10:51 PM.

[Keir]

The foot chase at the beginning is "full-bore"?!?! I watched mouth agape the whole time! It was astonishing- how could this reviewer be so unmoved?

[Milovy]

I'm assuming you're not making a sarcastic joke... "full-bore" means "all-out," not
"boring."