Im exausted. From sitting in a theater for 2.5 hours. That was amazing.
Spoliers......So yeah, be forwarned
Casino Royale:
Im an in utter shock over how amazing that movie was. Im not even exaurating, it was possibly one of the, if not the, best in the franchise. So lets start at the beginning. The opening seuence of Bond films are usually makred with werid montages of sudo-jazz songs somehow realting to the title, but this, this was truly a work of art. The song "You Know My Name" is so perfect for the movie, accually the entire movies music is perfect, you heart bits of the Bond Theme, but not in full until the very very very end, where we also heard the timeless phrase "Bond, James Bond". The film itself IS a work of art, its shot in WAY more the the usual number frames-per-secoend, and the use of black-and-white (the beginning, its SO well done, its a well done way of seeing the past), foggy camera(Bond gets drugged, you feel like you, too are going into cardiac arrest....though it wasent a Medtronic Defiblurator that saved him...hmmmm) , and great coregraphed fight scenes with some very intresting camera work. The acting is phenomal, Judy Dench returns as "M", and has one of the most memorial quotes of the movie "God, i miss the Cold War", and Daniel Craig is phenomial. Definitally reviles OR surpasses Sean Connery, he adds so much depth to the man, god the shower scene, he makes him seem human, not just this sex-crazed killing machine. He brings this element to Bond that i havent seen...i dont think ever. We also some to understand WHY he is such a ruthless womanizer later on in his carreer, i mean falling in love and then getting totally screwed over....thats gotta hurt. He also adds this jovial and sophmoric element to our Double Oh, making puns left and right...and occasionally down below, but there not these horrible puns, its this read-between-the-lines humor, the kind you have to think about, the kind that leaves you feeling satisifed, but not like you just laughed for 2.5 hours.
Bond does have some super human elements, this whole chase through the construction site was a tad unrealistic, but the rest of the movie was possibly possible. If your incredibally lucky. And can hold an AK-47 with one hand. But whatever.
This movie reminds me WHY i want to make films, it brings together elements form previous Bonds and creates a precursor film that allows you to connect the dots and make Bond what you want him to be. And i think we all know what that is, the man that every man wants to be, and the man who eveyr woman wants.
Now, there ARE some elements that i disliked. The ending is drawn out, they DID at least try and stay true to that last half of the book. But it became somewhat reundant, and unfortunally for me, having read the book, i knew the ending, ovbsoully we know James dosent die, but his girl sure does. Who he accually tells her he loves her. On the beach. Looking into the sunset. On the beach. In a swimsuit. On the beach.
So apparentally Bonds a romantic. Who knew?
There were also several...not discountunities with the story line, but i suppose thats the proper term for them. First off, there is no apparent "bad guy", accually there areseveral antagionists, and we never find out WHOM is behind everything., somethign is quite annyoning. I mean, to stay true to Ian Flemmings first 007 Novel, it would be the Sovites, but ovbsoully we cant do that now. So you're left with this very distant feeling at then end of the movie. Part of how one of the main antaginoists, a man named "Le Chiffre" who happens to weep blood (something very poetic and quite to the point), is funded my these African Terrisots who, partway through the movie, just show up and cut Le Chiffre up a bit, and then wind up in Bonds path, and we all know where that leaves them. And we never find out why Le Chiffre's face is so scarred, or why he taps his scarred and mangled eye when hes bluffing-but only sometimes.
Bond ends up winning this high stakes poker game on sheer luck, there appears to be no slight-of-hand, something that baffles me. And this american CIA agent gets thrown into the mix, and thn ends up taking Le Chiffre in exchange for giving Bond 5 Million(but 5 million what?) however, the americans never get a hold on Le Chiffre, who gets wacked by this third party man while tourutching Bond in some werid cell, that appears to be on a submarine, but thats just my guess.
In the end, this movies delivers, you walk out with this feeling of complete exaustion, like you youreself have traved the world in a whirlwind of fighting and high stakes poker. The last line of the credits is "Bond Will Return", somethings that is reassuring and adds to the mystique of Bond. As a die-hard Bond fan, i will say, i will be seeing this again, The movie flows seamlessly accross the screne, and revives the series. This 21st instalment reminds you why the fracnshise has survived for this long. There is a Bond for every era: Connery got us through the Cold War, Moore was just werid, and Brosnam led us through a time in movie history where nothign really happened. Craig on the brink of becoming one of the greatest and most memoribal Bonds of all time, if he plays his cards right.
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