7 replies to this topic

[gkgyver]

I just came back from watching Casino Royale for the first time. Ever since I saw the first teaser I was convinced that Daniel Craig will kick some serious butt as her majesty's favourite secret agent.
And my expectations weren't fulfilled - Casino Royale is no good movie, it is a great movie!
Is it James Bond? No. Is it James Bond? Definitely.

They were not kidding, this Bond film is radically different, and I could embrace this move and give it a french kiss. However, I have some quibbles with the film. The best way to put it is: Daniel Craig is perfect, but not for this movie. Some parts just aren't made for him. Whenever the film gets serious, dirty and gritty, he is the best Bond I've ever seen. I was sold the moment he violently drowned his first target during the pretitles - that's the James Bond I always wanted to see, the one Tim Dalton came so close to.
But when there's witty dialogue to handle, and I mean 007-witty, he just doesn't quite get there. But again the shizophrenia: when it's cynical wit, it's great.

Then there are the villains. Great performance by Mads Mikkelsen. But in general, I couldn't help but think there are too many anonymous thugs. This could be just my misguided perception, however. What I do find interesting, though, and I give credit to the writers for not deviating from the novel too much here, is that Bond isn't after a villain who plans to destroy the world or a country.

But speaking about deviating from the book, why, by all that is good and decent in this world, did they change Vesper's death so drastically? Did they think it was more fitting to give her a more grand, explosive exit? If they did, let me tell them this: it isn't fitting! On the contrary, I think that action scene didn't fit the film at all, it added nothing to it. On the contrary, Vesper's death, how it is presented in the book, would have fitted the atmosphere and the tone of Casino Royale perfectly. And it would have spared us 15 minutes in which nothing really happens. To have your villain killed and then have a finale with some unknown guy with funny sunglasses is just ... anticlimatic.
Are these scenes in Venice there to make us believe Bond and Vesper could actually have a bright future? I mean, come on, it's bloody obvious she's going to die, even if you haven't read the book, from the moment Bond says "I'm yours."

A few words on David Arnold: sorry David, I don't think this one will get a thumbs up. At no point did I have the feeling that Arnold tackled the flair of the movie, and once I thought the music was just distracting: the stairwell fight. I wonder if Arnold or Martin Campbell ever considered leaving the scene unscored, it would have been so much more effective and brutal. The only piece of music that nailed an aspect of the film was Vesper's theme. The scene in the shower was very very moving.

And generally, one message to the producers: next time, trim the FAT! This movie is at least 10, 15 minutes too long. If there's one thing I don't want during my 007 experience, it's an intermission.

Oh, and one other small thing: as the final scene, when you have the money shot of a new James Bond actor, in full tux, uttering the legendary words "Bond ... James Bond", you put a Walther in his hands, not some uber-weapon out of a Die Hard flick!

I used this space to point out the weaknesses because the strengths are pretty obvious, and far greater.

Overall I would give CR a 8/10

[JP007]

And my expectations weren't fulfilled - Casino Royale is no good movie, it is a great movie!
Is it James Bond? No. Is it James Bond? Definitely.

Overall I would give CR a 8/10

Actually I do very much relate to your review gkgyver, those were my first impressions too.
But I left the cinema confused about whether I liked a lot or not. Whether I liked it or loved it I mean.

It

Edited by JP007, 24 November 2006 - 02:00 PM.

[gkgyver]

I'm going to see it again tonight with a friend, and I'm eagerly anticipating my second opinion.

However, I already have one clear, loud message for Bond 22 to the Broccolis: scrap the funny! Craig can pull it off!

[JP007]

I'm going to see it again tonight with a friend, and I'm eagerly anticipating my second opinion.

However, I already have one clear, loud message for Bond 22 to the Broccolis: scrap the funny! Craig can pull it off!

By the end of it I was actually a bit afraid for Bond22. I know my expectations for CR were of the roof and now I

[gkgyver]

Now I've seen it twice and I have to say that it really grows on me! The film, that is. I have to exclude the score, though. If anything, it got worse; I don't know whether Arnold was going through the motions or something, but he really dropped the ball.

For instance, when Bond follows Vesper through the streets of Venice ... you don't score that with loud brass and percussion bangs, it simply doesn't work.

[JP007]

Now I've seen it twice and I have to say that it really grows on me! The film, that is. I have to exclude the score, though. If anything, it got worse; I don't know whether Arnold was going through the motions or something, but he really dropped the ball.

For instance, when Bond follows Vesper through the streets of Venice ... you don't score that with loud brass and percussion bangs, it simply doesn't work.

Yep, I

Edited by JP007, 25 November 2006 - 03:31 AM.

[Rolex]

off to see it now bye

[gkgyver]

By far my favourite scenes of the entire series occur at the beginning and the end of CR. Nothing has to be said about the pretitles anymore, it's just perfect.
But Bond's encounter with Mr. White is just beyond words. Nothing ever described Bond's cold-blooded, but elegant character better. That scene could almost be in a Godfather movie.
And the music there: this is what the Bond theme is there for and capable of. It almost redefines what the theme symbolises.