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selenakSo far, highlights of my weekend have included writing about 200 Christmas letters, then being told I'd have to write them again because the mode of address wasn't sufficiently warm-hearted, and watching Casino Royale. You can bet I liked the new Bond movie better.
Churlishness about seasonal tasks aside, I really enjoyed it. Bond movies were never a great passion, but they were by and large fun. I did see them until and including the first Brosnan, Goldeneye, after which I gave up. My father, on the other hand, is a fan and has the Fleming novels at home, which means I read them before seeing any of the movies and thus actually watched my first Connery (From Russian With Love) nitpicking and going "but..." in my earnest 12 years old way. All this being said, I'm not entirely kidding when I claim my favourite Bond is Bashir, Julian Bashir, in the DS9 episode Our Man Bashir which is a strong contender for best Star Trek Episode Using The Holodeck/Holosuite Ever and manages to get the Bond formula better than many of the movies while still making it a character piece for Bashir and Garak.
Casino Royale, based on Fleming's first Bond novel, tackled the difficult task of trying to unite Book Bond and Movie Bond (the two drifted irrevocably apart even in the late Connery years and by the time Roger Moore came along were completely separate; actually the most faithful movie in terms of actually using Fleming's posts and characterisation is probably the intermediary, In Her Majesty's Secret Service, starring the somewhat unfairly maligned George Lazenby and Diana Rigg, and after that, they never tried it again script wise though Dalton tried it via acting), to reboot the franchise in the way Batman Begins did with Batman, and to present something that can compete with all those agents and spies that came after Bond and possessed, dare one say it, a touch of psychological realism. And it manages all that, delivering with aplomb. Daniel Craig actually matches the description Fleming gives which no one post Connery did (too handsome, too smooth, and definitely sans sign of cruelty in the face), and you believe the way this man earns his living. Actually adressing the "how does killing people affect one" question in a Bond movie - a genre which lives from being "safe" fantasy - was risky, and it pays off. So does getting rid of the gadgets and counterpointing the ever more elaborate chase sequences of the later movies which had used everything from cars to trains to space crafts by going back to the basis and making the big chase sequence one on foot, with both parties running. It's no less suspenseful for that, and in tune with the emphasis on the physical (not just in the sense of eye candy, though the film naturally delivers that, too) throughout.
As was the case with Fleming, but not most of the movies, the villains' goals are all about money, not world domination and/or world destruction. Very refreshing. Something unique to this film and not in either the novel "Casino Royale" or previous movies was what you could call the Batman Begins parallel: Bond as a work in progress, not yet in his definite persona, but aquiring it bit by bit throughout the movie. This James Bond isn't above either making major mistakes or learning all the time; he's not yet a static character. (As with the Batman franchise, this makes me wonder how the follow up movie will handle its main figure as the assembling of the iconic persona can't be repeated.)
Judi Dench is great as M (though I stopped watching post Goldeneye, I thought making M female was an inspired contribution to the franchise) and sparks off Craig as Bond in a way I can't recall any M and Bond ever did. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
astolat wrote a great story about the two of them, Queen of Spades, which everyone who hasn't yet should read; as for me, for the first time I could see M as living in the same world as Harry of the tv show Spooks and wished for these two to cross swords, especially since Spooks plays up the MI5/MI6 rivalry at every chance it gets.) Eva Green as Vesper accomplishes what imo only Diana Rigg as Tracy really managed, making a "Bond girl" a woman with emotional depth, and makes me wonder what else she's acted in that I could watch. And I really hope they keep the scriptwriter; this one manages witty dialogue without getting into groanworthy puns. So, all in all: kudos, and please, may I have another?
Churlishness about seasonal tasks aside, I really enjoyed it. Bond movies were never a great passion, but they were by and large fun. I did see them until and including the first Brosnan, Goldeneye, after which I gave up. My father, on the other hand, is a fan and has the Fleming novels at home, which means I read them before seeing any of the movies and thus actually watched my first Connery (From Russian With Love) nitpicking and going "but..." in my earnest 12 years old way. All this being said, I'm not entirely kidding when I claim my favourite Bond is Bashir, Julian Bashir, in the DS9 episode Our Man Bashir which is a strong contender for best Star Trek Episode Using The Holodeck/Holosuite Ever and manages to get the Bond formula better than many of the movies while still making it a character piece for Bashir and Garak.
Casino Royale, based on Fleming's first Bond novel, tackled the difficult task of trying to unite Book Bond and Movie Bond (the two drifted irrevocably apart even in the late Connery years and by the time Roger Moore came along were completely separate; actually the most faithful movie in terms of actually using Fleming's posts and characterisation is probably the intermediary, In Her Majesty's Secret Service, starring the somewhat unfairly maligned George Lazenby and Diana Rigg, and after that, they never tried it again script wise though Dalton tried it via acting), to reboot the franchise in the way Batman Begins did with Batman, and to present something that can compete with all those agents and spies that came after Bond and possessed, dare one say it, a touch of psychological realism. And it manages all that, delivering with aplomb. Daniel Craig actually matches the description Fleming gives which no one post Connery did (too handsome, too smooth, and definitely sans sign of cruelty in the face), and you believe the way this man earns his living. Actually adressing the "how does killing people affect one" question in a Bond movie - a genre which lives from being "safe" fantasy - was risky, and it pays off. So does getting rid of the gadgets and counterpointing the ever more elaborate chase sequences of the later movies which had used everything from cars to trains to space crafts by going back to the basis and making the big chase sequence one on foot, with both parties running. It's no less suspenseful for that, and in tune with the emphasis on the physical (not just in the sense of eye candy, though the film naturally delivers that, too) throughout.
As was the case with Fleming, but not most of the movies, the villains' goals are all about money, not world domination and/or world destruction. Very refreshing. Something unique to this film and not in either the novel "Casino Royale" or previous movies was what you could call the Batman Begins parallel: Bond as a work in progress, not yet in his definite persona, but aquiring it bit by bit throughout the movie. This James Bond isn't above either making major mistakes or learning all the time; he's not yet a static character. (As with the Batman franchise, this makes me wonder how the follow up movie will handle its main figure as the assembling of the iconic persona can't be repeated.)
Judi Dench is great as M (though I stopped watching post Goldeneye, I thought making M female was an inspired contribution to the franchise) and sparks off Craig as Bond in a way I can't recall any M and Bond ever did. (
astolat wrote a great story about the two of them, Queen of Spades, which everyone who hasn't yet should read; as for me, for the first time I could see M as living in the same world as Harry of the tv show Spooks and wished for these two to cross swords, especially since Spooks plays up the MI5/MI6 rivalry at every chance it gets.) Eva Green as Vesper accomplishes what imo only Diana Rigg as Tracy really managed, making a "Bond girl" a woman with emotional depth, and makes me wonder what else she's acted in that I could watch. And I really hope they keep the scriptwriter; this one manages witty dialogue without getting into groanworthy puns. So, all in all: kudos, and please, may I have another?
