Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Double O Countdown: Casino Royale


I can safely say there is nothing about this film I don't like. If I could break my own rules, there would easily be a dozen moments to highlight, although it might be simpler to just list all two hours and twenty four minutes of the film. The villain is perfect, the girl is perfect, the resolution is devastatingly perfect, and the final line is the most perfect of all. It is not just an over reaction to the sad state the series was in from the last film, it was the complete overhaul of the concept and the integration with the established that makes this movie work. This was Ian Fleming's first Bond novel and it took forty years after he died to bring it to life, I'm so glad they waited to get it right.

001  A Real Bond Moment and a Touch of Humor


The re-boot of the series takes the stories in a decidedly more serious direction. It was easy to worry that the more somber 007 would ruin the joie de vivre of the movies. It turns out, there is still humor here, it is just a lot more subtle. A single self referencing smile blows the cool demeanor of the character for just a moment as he soaks in the situation he finds himself in while wearing a brand new tuxedo.



002  Torture


From the demented mind of his creator, James endures the torture scene that created the whole aura of sadism around the series. It is brutal and hard to watch, but it is also a test of wills between two very dangerous men.


003  Least Worst Alternative


After chasing the bomb maker across half of Northern Africa, and catching him with great difficulty, James is confronted by the entire security force of an African Embassy with guns pointed at him. He seems to give up on the captive, pushing him toward the head man on the staff, but quickly makes a choice that cause all kinds of trouble but one which was the least worst he could choose.


Yep, that's our man.


004  The Free Running Chase


The bomb maker sniffs out a trap and starts to run, Bond follows. A terrific action sequence that is capped off by the previous point but which deserves it's own slot on the list.





















 

He is not as smooth at the running style as his prey, but 007 is determined not to let his man escape.

005 The Black and White Opening


The re-boot starts off like a spy film from the 1960s. Not the glamorous Bond films but the John Lecarre type. Dirty, tough and Black and White.





How did he die? Not well






The Second is easier.







And then a real switch, the gun barrel logo is integrated into the scene and a new era starts.





006  Vesper Lynd [Spoilers


Eva Green is the most desirable Bond girl and she is a femme fatale. She is clever and emotional and just the kind of a bird with a wing down that Fleming imagined his hero would fall for.

Bond fantasizes that he can leave his job and live with the woman he loves in any way he wants.






 The dream of normalcy is enough to blind him to the clues of her perfidious nature.







The moment of betrayal hits him as hard as the rope lanyard that Le Chiffre used on his testicles.





Even with that betrayal, he does all he can to save her.

007  The Final Line


They make you wait for it. Director Martin Campbell who revived Bond with "Goldeneye" a decade earlier, does it again with a brilliant shot, just the right amount of a pause, and then Daniel Craig's delivery of the introduction that fills all of our spy dreams.


"The names Bond..."


James Bond will Return in: "Quantum of Solace"

2 comments:

SJHoneywell said...

This was the revamp that the series needed. There's a lot to love in this new Bond and new, more realistic look at the world.

Pretty soon you'll get to the one that I think belongs in the top tier of Bond films.

Richard Kirkham said...

Two out of three Craig films belong there. The middle one, well...