My thoughts on Casino Royale
Posted Saturday, November 25th 2006
I’ve always been fascinated with the stories of James Bond. I’ve seen almost all movies and I’ve read many of the stories. I’ve always been impressed with Bond’s coolness, the over-the-top nature of Bond movies, and the barely believable storylines and action sequences. Bond movies were always about a non-stop thrillride, start to finish.
And I saw Casino Royale. I read many positive reviews, many good things were said about the movie. I was honestly in the mood to be impressed by the new Bond movie, and the new Bond himself - Daniel Craig. And the movie is good, there is no doubt about that. Production, locations, sound - everything was top notch. But it just wasn’t a Bond movie.
The movie starts off very good. A flashback sequence about Bond attaining his 00 status. Then a very fast-paced action sequence in Madagascar (You like to move it, move it!) And from then on, the whole movie has very little action. Even the appearance of the much-tauted Aston Martin DBS was extremely short, and the presence of the car was very underwhelming - the car could have played a much better part in the movie - considering it was made specifically for the movie. But I digress. The lack of over-the-top moments, no gadgets, no Q.. Overall, a bit of a letdown.
I mean, yes, this was supposed to be a back-to-basics for Bond, to tell the story of James Bond, to give us some insight into why he does some things - and there are several moments like that - we are told the origin of James Bond’s favourite drink (Vodka-Martini, shaken, not stirred), but with the attempt to make a more believable Bond, the producers have actually toned down Bond so much, that the movie has lost the essence of “Bondness”.
And the story itself seems thrown together at some points. It would have been nice to have some sort of closure at the end of the movie - which Bond undoubtedly gets, but the audience is left wanting for more. Which is a bit of a disappointment. After every Bond movie I’ve felt thrilled after all the action. After this movie, after sitting through over two hours, I was left wanting more - more details, more story, more action.
Excellent movie. Just not an excellent Bond movie.
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