Post by Eddie Love on Jun 21, 2010 20:51:02 GMT -5
I agree with you guys completely on CASINO ROYALE, except for the part where Tom calls Eva Green “reasonably attractive” as she’s in my top ranks of Bond beauties. Love the freckles, the slightly skewed smile and oh, those eyes, not to mention the killer figure. For me, all her scenes with Craig in the later half of the film work brilliantly and make this a great, fine I’ll say it, love story.
I have a couple of little beefs with this awesome film though. You touched on one: Dame Judi. Why reboot the series and keep one actor, when it’s clear she’s playing the same role, yet a different character altogether. Not a deal-breaker, but odd. I also thought of Helen Mirren or…wait for it…Diana Rigg as being good choices to step in as M. (That said, Judi’s a great actress and does have good chemistry with DC.)
The airport runway scene works for me, but I’m sorry, it’s very “just go with it”. The logistics of the whole thing make no sense. Bond leaves the Bahamas (and Solange? I think not) catches the last flight to Miami. So what time is it? 10 or 11PM? He then goes to the Bodies exhibit, which is packed. What is it now? Midnight? Then goes to the airport, which is completely bustling, just like it would be at…one in the morning? From there he calls MI5, where everyone is in the office. It’s like 5AM in London? (Just go with it…) (While we’re picking nits, later, in Venice – doesn’t Bond kinda cause all the destruction at that hotel that ultimately lead to Vesper’s death?)
Anyway, bottom line CASINO ROYALE is a great film, Craig is sensational, in what is not only his debut, but also the first real dramatic consideration of the character ever. None of this depth, I think, was employed when DR NO was trying to get the franchise off the ground. Also, actors like Dalton and Brosnan, weren’t given the chance to hit the re-set button themselves, so their efforts where saddled with the audiences baggage from the prior films.
I really liked QOBIMS when I first saw it in the theater. And, I still think it’s an excellent production, everything about it looks great. I love the photography, the editing and the production design across the several, wonderful different locations. (And I love the oh so authentic and evocative screen fonts that introduce each one!) But seriously, I especially love the gritty South American setting. I also like the action scenes, except for the boat-chase and the first half of the plane chase. I love the foot race and fight in the beginning, even if it does resemble a Bourne film and has a lame CGI bit where they crash through the roof.
Mainly, I liked that the film continued to focus on Craig’s development of the character and kept up the intensity of CR. Yes, Derrick, I’m one of those people who regard it as the only real Bond sequel so far, a designation I cannot extend to DAF, where no mention is made of Bond’s wife having died in the prior film. (Although his hunt – mainly comic – for Bloefeld in the beginning is spurred by that fact, we assume.)
However, even when I first saw QOBIMS, something nagged at me and I’ve liked it less on each viewing. I later realized what this was. Bond in this film is pretty much an asshole. Yes, he’s dark and brooding and cold in CR, his total indifference to Solange’s corpse is an awful, but fascinating moment. But he also falls in love in the film. In the process he becomes less dark, less of a dick. He’s a guy who proudly beds married women, but finally tells Vesper her boyfriend’s a lucky guy and is willing to leave it at that. After they’re together, and she dies, he loses his bearings and becomes obsessed with revenge. That’s all fine and interesting to explore. And, I like the scenes in QOBIMS where he get’s his humanity back, first when Mathis dies in his arms, and letter in his (under-explored) scenes with the Camille. (I like when they’re sitting in the flaming hotel at the end, a scene that harkens back to him sitting in the shower with Vesper.)
But you get the feeling not just that he’s been burned by love, or that he’s out for revenge. He’s just kind of a tool. Here, I’ll just mention two things. One – when Bond goes to Haiti he has the fight with the hitman in the guy’s hotel. (Very cool bit where he takes the guy’s pulse while he bleeds out.) Later, when Bond talks to M about this, he’s like “That’s a dead-end.” And she gets all bent out of shape because he killed the guy. A nearly identical exchange happens later. “Well, yeah—I killed him. It was the only way to prevent him from killing me,” he could have said, but doesn’t. Instead, he incurs her wrath and jeopardizes his mission. No idea why.
Later, and most egregiously, when he knocks the guy fall off the roof at the opera (in a bit Tom notes echoes TSWLM), the guy is later shot by Green’s men. This guy, it turns out, was working for British Special Branch. (He’s the guard to some member of Quantum they make a big deal about, but we never see or hear of again.) Bond’s having shot this Special Branch guy is the entire rationale for the whole thing with him going off the grid and having to rely on Mathis. However, when M tells Bond that he’s accused of shooting this guy – Bond says…nothing? Presumably, he’s perfectly aware that he didn’t shoot this guy. Seriously, why does he withhold this information from his boss? This makes zero sense and, by the way, effectively results in both Fields and Mathis later being killed. (People complain that Bond’s becoming too Bourne-ian, but he’s also starting to too closely resemble the other JB of the spy world – Jack Bauer – in always having to go it alone and buck command. This, by the way, is very contrary to the books where Bond has a positive man-crush on M.) And don’t get me started on Bond sticking Mathis in a dumpster. WTF? While other aspects of the film work for me, these touches make the film, kind of unpleasant.
Also bad (but, I’m sorry, I can’t agree that it’s actually boring) in this picture, is the dynamic between Green and the girl. Seriously, explain this to me. She goes to bed with Green…so what?...she can get next to the Bolivian strongman who’s willing to bang any woman who brings him a beer? Makes no sense. And the opening scene with Green and her is one of the worst written passages in any Bond film. It’s a comically over-stuffed exposition-palloza. I don’t think these two are bad performers, and I get that, with the emphasis still on developing Craig’s Bond, you don’t want a three-nippled albino with a monkey’s paw for a left hand, but they could still have spruced up Green’s characterization a little. Plus, why cast an actor who somewhat resembles the better villain in the previous film? And if you ever saw the film HITMAN, you know Olga Kuryenko has an other-worldy ass, but they never show her figure to any advantage here at all.
Anyway, I still think the picture looks great, and I find it’s faults more irritating than really offensive.
PS
EON have to deal with the fact that, in addition to having a black Felix Leiter, they also have one of the best actors in world in the role. (If you’ve seen him onstage, you know I’m Wright.) Here he has some good scenes, then…
PPS
Pop quiz, hot shot: Green has two main henchmen: what do they look like, how do they die? (Yeah, me neither…)
PPPS
Worst. Bond. Theme. Ever.
I have a couple of little beefs with this awesome film though. You touched on one: Dame Judi. Why reboot the series and keep one actor, when it’s clear she’s playing the same role, yet a different character altogether. Not a deal-breaker, but odd. I also thought of Helen Mirren or…wait for it…Diana Rigg as being good choices to step in as M. (That said, Judi’s a great actress and does have good chemistry with DC.)
The airport runway scene works for me, but I’m sorry, it’s very “just go with it”. The logistics of the whole thing make no sense. Bond leaves the Bahamas (and Solange? I think not) catches the last flight to Miami. So what time is it? 10 or 11PM? He then goes to the Bodies exhibit, which is packed. What is it now? Midnight? Then goes to the airport, which is completely bustling, just like it would be at…one in the morning? From there he calls MI5, where everyone is in the office. It’s like 5AM in London? (Just go with it…) (While we’re picking nits, later, in Venice – doesn’t Bond kinda cause all the destruction at that hotel that ultimately lead to Vesper’s death?)
Anyway, bottom line CASINO ROYALE is a great film, Craig is sensational, in what is not only his debut, but also the first real dramatic consideration of the character ever. None of this depth, I think, was employed when DR NO was trying to get the franchise off the ground. Also, actors like Dalton and Brosnan, weren’t given the chance to hit the re-set button themselves, so their efforts where saddled with the audiences baggage from the prior films.
I really liked QOBIMS when I first saw it in the theater. And, I still think it’s an excellent production, everything about it looks great. I love the photography, the editing and the production design across the several, wonderful different locations. (And I love the oh so authentic and evocative screen fonts that introduce each one!) But seriously, I especially love the gritty South American setting. I also like the action scenes, except for the boat-chase and the first half of the plane chase. I love the foot race and fight in the beginning, even if it does resemble a Bourne film and has a lame CGI bit where they crash through the roof.
Mainly, I liked that the film continued to focus on Craig’s development of the character and kept up the intensity of CR. Yes, Derrick, I’m one of those people who regard it as the only real Bond sequel so far, a designation I cannot extend to DAF, where no mention is made of Bond’s wife having died in the prior film. (Although his hunt – mainly comic – for Bloefeld in the beginning is spurred by that fact, we assume.)
However, even when I first saw QOBIMS, something nagged at me and I’ve liked it less on each viewing. I later realized what this was. Bond in this film is pretty much an asshole. Yes, he’s dark and brooding and cold in CR, his total indifference to Solange’s corpse is an awful, but fascinating moment. But he also falls in love in the film. In the process he becomes less dark, less of a dick. He’s a guy who proudly beds married women, but finally tells Vesper her boyfriend’s a lucky guy and is willing to leave it at that. After they’re together, and she dies, he loses his bearings and becomes obsessed with revenge. That’s all fine and interesting to explore. And, I like the scenes in QOBIMS where he get’s his humanity back, first when Mathis dies in his arms, and letter in his (under-explored) scenes with the Camille. (I like when they’re sitting in the flaming hotel at the end, a scene that harkens back to him sitting in the shower with Vesper.)
But you get the feeling not just that he’s been burned by love, or that he’s out for revenge. He’s just kind of a tool. Here, I’ll just mention two things. One – when Bond goes to Haiti he has the fight with the hitman in the guy’s hotel. (Very cool bit where he takes the guy’s pulse while he bleeds out.) Later, when Bond talks to M about this, he’s like “That’s a dead-end.” And she gets all bent out of shape because he killed the guy. A nearly identical exchange happens later. “Well, yeah—I killed him. It was the only way to prevent him from killing me,” he could have said, but doesn’t. Instead, he incurs her wrath and jeopardizes his mission. No idea why.
Later, and most egregiously, when he knocks the guy fall off the roof at the opera (in a bit Tom notes echoes TSWLM), the guy is later shot by Green’s men. This guy, it turns out, was working for British Special Branch. (He’s the guard to some member of Quantum they make a big deal about, but we never see or hear of again.) Bond’s having shot this Special Branch guy is the entire rationale for the whole thing with him going off the grid and having to rely on Mathis. However, when M tells Bond that he’s accused of shooting this guy – Bond says…nothing? Presumably, he’s perfectly aware that he didn’t shoot this guy. Seriously, why does he withhold this information from his boss? This makes zero sense and, by the way, effectively results in both Fields and Mathis later being killed. (People complain that Bond’s becoming too Bourne-ian, but he’s also starting to too closely resemble the other JB of the spy world – Jack Bauer – in always having to go it alone and buck command. This, by the way, is very contrary to the books where Bond has a positive man-crush on M.) And don’t get me started on Bond sticking Mathis in a dumpster. WTF? While other aspects of the film work for me, these touches make the film, kind of unpleasant.
Also bad (but, I’m sorry, I can’t agree that it’s actually boring) in this picture, is the dynamic between Green and the girl. Seriously, explain this to me. She goes to bed with Green…so what?...she can get next to the Bolivian strongman who’s willing to bang any woman who brings him a beer? Makes no sense. And the opening scene with Green and her is one of the worst written passages in any Bond film. It’s a comically over-stuffed exposition-palloza. I don’t think these two are bad performers, and I get that, with the emphasis still on developing Craig’s Bond, you don’t want a three-nippled albino with a monkey’s paw for a left hand, but they could still have spruced up Green’s characterization a little. Plus, why cast an actor who somewhat resembles the better villain in the previous film? And if you ever saw the film HITMAN, you know Olga Kuryenko has an other-worldy ass, but they never show her figure to any advantage here at all.
Anyway, I still think the picture looks great, and I find it’s faults more irritating than really offensive.
PS
EON have to deal with the fact that, in addition to having a black Felix Leiter, they also have one of the best actors in world in the role. (If you’ve seen him onstage, you know I’m Wright.) Here he has some good scenes, then…
PPS
Pop quiz, hot shot: Green has two main henchmen: what do they look like, how do they die? (Yeah, me neither…)
PPPS
Worst. Bond. Theme. Ever.