The new Bond movie,
Casino Royale, in a fascinating departure from previous Bond movies, is really great! The new Bond is Daniel Craig (according to
imdb.com, he's slated to play Lord Asriel in the upcoming
His Dark Materials - haven't read the books? Where have you been?). At first I thought he was a little too pasty and, you know,
English to be a hot Bond, but the man has some sharp pecs.
The opening sequence is really exciting – I'd say along the lines of
X2, you know, the one where the lizard-guy runs around the White House and bursts into the Oval Office? That was so hot. Bond chases this guy who's like some kind of Olympian jumper who leap frogs all over a construction site. Later, Bond must win a multi-million dollar game of Texas Hold-em, neatly tying in with our national obsession. Although I found myself wondering, “Now, why must he win this multi-million dollar poker game?” Oh yes, for some reason. It mostly makes sense – not like so many other action movies where directors simply try to distract their audiences with flashy
Matrix-style fight sequences.
Casino Royale presents Bond at the beginning of his career as a double-oh, and even strives to present a little insight re: his attitude toward the ladies. It's Q-less and therefore less gadgety, but I think all those gadgets are kind of dopey anyway.
I think there was a missed opportunity to punch up the classic Bond theme song – I'm thinking something like what U2 did with the
Mission Impossible ditty a few years ago. Also the asthmatic villain whose eye bleeds is kind of Boris - when he captured Bond I thought for sure he was going to throw him in a tank full of sharks with friggin' laser beams on their heads.
The opening sequence is really exciting – I'd say along the lines of X2, you know, the one where the lizard-guy runs around the White House and bursts into the Oval Office? That was so hot. Bond chases this guy who's like some kind of Olympian jumper who leap frogs all over a construction site. Later, Bond must win a multi-million dollar game of Texas Hold-em, neatly tying in with our national obsession. Although I found myself wondering, “Now, why must he win this multi-million dollar poker game?” Oh yes, for some reason. It mostly makes sense – not like so many other action movies where directors simply try to distract their audiences with flashy Matrix-style fight sequences. Casino Royale presents Bond at the beginning of his career as a double-oh, and even strives to present a little insight re: his attitude toward the ladies. It's Q-less and therefore less gadgety, but I think all those gadgets are kind of dopey anyway.
I think there was a missed opportunity to punch up the classic Bond theme song – I'm thinking something like what U2 did with the Mission Impossible ditty a few years ago. Also the asthmatic villain whose eye bleeds is kind of Boris - when he captured Bond I thought for sure he was going to throw him in a tank full of sharks with friggin' laser beams on their heads.
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