Screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis
Based on the Novel by Ian Flemming
Directed by Martin Campbell
“Vodka martini, please.”
“Shaken or stirred, sir?”
“Do I look like I give a damn?”
Five things that went right with Casino Royale, the newest James Bond film:
(1) They chose the right actor. Daniel Craig is certainly the fittest Bond ever cast, but he’s more than an imposing physical specimen. He carries himself as a cool, professional, single-minded instrument of government policy, carefully treading just over the line of the dark side of life, in order to achieve his objectives. He has charisma, passion, power and presence…in short, everything you want from the star of Hollywood’s most enduring franchise.
(2) The reboot is carried off with considerable style. The teaser sequence, filmed in a stylish, electrifying black-and-white palate, deftly shows how he earns his 00 designation, with a minimum of exposition, and a great deal of brutal artistry. The rest of the movie chronicles his messy growth into the archetypal character we all know – keeping up a lightning pace, while simultaneously exploring all the psychological nooks and crannies that make up who and what we know James Bond to be. It’s a visceral journey, and it ends with a beautiful shot of Bond as we have always pictured him: in charge, in control, unruffled. Thankfully, it takes substantial ruffling to get to this stage.
(3) Judi Dench as M. What else needs to be said?
(4) Stripping the gadgetry. No Q, no souped-up super car, no multi-action watches…just the physical and stylistic basics, without the ostentation or techno-filler. Not only does this force Bond to rely on his physical abilities and his wits, it still leaves future movies open to slowly re-introducing the nice toys without clogging the storylines with too much deus ex machina. Mind you, the re-introduction of American counter-part Felix Liter (not seen since 1989’s License to Kill) is carried off with amazing subtlety.
(5) Le Chiffre, the villainous banker: one of the most banal, down-to-earth villains Bond has ever faced…but his straightforward greed and ability to screw up massively make him a cunning, desperate & dangerous foe. At the same time, he still gets an evil eye and some ripe, villainous dialogue (“Give our guests five minutes to leave…then throw them overboard.”). If any further proof is needed, just watch THAT torture scene: it’s so basic and brutal that only someone TRULY evil would consider using it.
And now…three things that aren’t quite so hot with the newest James Bond film:
(1) The action sequences are front-loaded into the first half of the film…leaving the second half a much quieter, much more methodical affair. The second half is eminently watchable…but it’s very tame compared to what has come before. In fact, instead of having a major climax, the movie seems to ease to its conclusion. Luckily, you need the time to allow you adrenal gland to recover.
(2) Vesper Lynd is a beautiful character, played well by Eva Green…but the finale is a strange mess that introduces a motivation for betrayal that is both confusingly presented (the Venice sequences are pretty…especially as a tactic to ignore the one-eyed spectacle man and his thugs who come out of nowhere), and then dismissed by M with an explanation that is irritatingly brief. It’s a great waste.
(3) The opening song by Chris Cornell: not one that’s going to stick in your mind. Bring back the days of Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die, Carly Simon’s The Spy Who Loved Me and Duran Duran’s A View to a Kill.
Casino Royale is a stylish, sexy, and straightforward presentation of Bond, Year One. The series is regenerated with considerable panache, and bodes well for the future…and it certainly doesn’t matter one bit that the new Bond is blond! If that sort of thing DOES get your back up…then you’re a fan of the wrong movie series.
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