James Bond : Casino Royale

shiram · Post by **shiram** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:28 am

After Batman and Superman tried to do a series reboot with good and moderate success respectively, it was now times for Bond, James Bond to get a fresh new face, after all often times times the actor portraying James werent all too young themselves anyways.
So here we find a younger, different, more sporty Bond in Daniel Craig, and although its easy to cry about his definite difference from the Bond stigma, its easy to allude that with this series reboot, they could afford the change.
And Craig it was worth it.
No matter how blond or not as esthically "pretty" as other Bond portrayer might have been, Craig is definately the most athletic and fit of the Bond's and it is shown all troughout the movie. Running, fighting and almost-naked scenes that do run too long for their own good, at least proves this Bond is indeed younger and even not as smooth and slick as other incarnation, and although the feats are still almost inhuman, they are done with enough grit, blood and sweat thats it brings it down to earth, at least a little.

Walking in the theater for a James Bond movie, you know what to expect, when you are at the 21st installment in a serie, you have set your mold already. And one part of that is the Bond girls, truly only eye candy and an attempt at a romantic plot, that fall short of what it could be. But the women are indeed quite stunning, the 2 of them. Of course Judy Dench comes back as M, and does a good job of it, using her short on screen time well.

There are a few things that gnawed at me though. The movie is long, clocking in at 144 minutes, the first half does fly by on account of the adrenaline rush of action, but when you settle in the for the next hour and a half you definately feel the weight of its lenght.
Product placement is also quite palpable, being a Sony picture, cellphones gallore, Vaio laptops, theres even a short in movie ad for Ford cars, well thats how it felt to me anyways.
But beyond that, and Bond's Amigo thats not a Rolex, you can see where the budget of the movie was spent, exotic shooting locations, no cgi and some spectular explosions.
Overall the movie is great, annoyances are there but easily overlooked, and Craig passes with good mark as the new Bond. The movie is entertaining and delivers on every promise that the serie has been known to offer. The stakes arent as high, but even James Bond as to start somewhere!

Octa · Post by **Octa** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:44 am

I saw it, I loved it.

That is much more than I can say for the last several Bond movies. The last one, Die Another Day, was purely craptacular in my humble opinion. In fact, the last one that a really enjoyed and will watch again anytime it is on TV is For Your Eyes Only. Granted I was only 7 when it came out but I have seen it several times since.

Casino Royale is not a perfect film (a movie like Big Trouble in Little China only comes out once in a lifetime) but it is one of my favorites of this rapidly ending year. The action was a bit beyond actual human capabilities but not to the extreme to where it is ridiculous like many of the most recent Bond films.

Great movie -- go see it!!!

shiram · Post by **shiram** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:55 am

oh yea the opening credit scene and theme song both sucked tremendous ass

Chris Cornell is an has been, who just tried to make a james bond sounding theme, but with more guitar, wich results in flavorless drabble

RoboTurtle · Post by **RoboTurtle** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:49 pm

Was definitely impressed. Agree on the intro song, length of film, Craig being awesome, women being ridiculously hot.

No Q tho... could have done with some John Cleese action and a few more gadgets.
They took some interesting twists with this film, usually the credits have naked women's silhouettes, this time it was Craig. They even had a pastiche of the 'Pussy Galore walking out of the sea' shot with Craig. Going for the female crowd a bit more it seems. The car chase was also untraditionally short.

Altogether a bit of a different take on Bond, but very good.

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:44 am

Octa wrote:ICasino Royale is not a perfect film (a movie like Big Trouble in Little China only comes out once in a lifetime) but it is one of my favorites of this rapidly ending year.
Great movie -- go see it!!!

Heh, I agree! Big trouble is the greatest movie ever

Really looking forward to see this movie, been a while since I actually looked forward at seeing a bond movie.

And btw Shir, whats up with all the "bong"s ?

shiram · Post by **shiram** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:55 am

my subconscious letting me know i havent hit the green in too long i guess
that and i just cant type

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:43 am

The funny thing is, G and D aren't even directly next to eachother

So I'd say, trust your sublimal messages and go smoke some pot!

shiram · Post by **shiram** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:27 am

well had been off since last july....

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:30 am

Good for you! I was joking anyways, personally I hate drugs, so keep it clean!

RoamingMadness · Post by **RoamingMadness** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:35 pm

I just saw it. And holy shit.

I wanted to hate him. I really did. And i dont even know why. Probably the blond hair.

I think, much like the batman movies. To enjoy it best you have to look at this as the begining of a new series. Not number 21 or whatever.

And what a begining. Shiram really hit the nail on the head for mostly how i feel. The first half was over in a blink. But the movie went on for about 20 minutes too long i felt.

Overall, hes a much darker bond. And much more realistic. Normally, im a big fan of gadgets and Q. But i think this Bond was a better Bond. No pen bombs. No laser watches. Hell, i think he only fired 12 bullets in the whole movie. And he still pulled it through as a complete badass.

And.. on a realism level.. i give it.. a solid 8.5/10

Great, great movie.