My Casino Royale review

chrisisall

Well, if you've read some of my posts, you'll remember that I am not a fan of Daniel Craig as Bond, but I broke down & bought CR on DVD last night & watched it for the first time since 2006, and I have to say I had a blast!
Watching it now prepared for a very different take on Bond I found I could let go of my prejudice & just enjoy the movie.
I stand by an earlier criticism though, this business about Bond being a world class triathlete is rubbish as far as I'm concerned. In shape? Surely, better than most of us will ever be, but ten minutes of running at full speed? Have YOU ever run at full speed for even A MINUTE?? I appreciated his hitching a ride here & there to conserve energy, but seriously, that chase was nearly on the believability level of the invisible car for me. ) *
Other than that, the movie was brisk & fully engaging, much more so than I'd remembered. Craig IS a world class actor, no doubt, and his Bond was fabulous, though Craig himself just doesn't physically fit the part for my taste. But at times he made me forget that.
The movie was slightly over written in that they wanted to do so much- and Vesper's end was meant to choke as many tears out of us as possible, yet it was mostly successful, even in it's weakest moments.
Verdict: one of the best Bond movies. -{

* ETA: It's been brought to my attention by Teppo that this updated Bond must likely be able to pass a fitness test, which would include a work out routine of some type, which sounds reasonable to me, so this criticism no longer holds.

Napoleon Plural

To its (sort of) credit, CR has a unique look and feel to it. I can't think of other action movies quite like it.

Surprised you find the footrunning chase ludicrous, I mean he's not sprinting, just running and yeah, for 10 minutes not too hard for most people, even if the muscle-up build means he doesn't look that atheletic or fast. More ludicrous is him punching thru walls (how does he know how hard they're gonna be) or callous collateral damage, a staple of Martin Campbell films. Using a bulldozer is not very target specific when going after a fast-moving bomber.

But if it were on telly tonight, I'd rather watch that that many of the other, recent movies.

chrisisall

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Surprised you find the footrunning chase ludicrous, I mean he's not sprinting, just running

Looked like mostly sprinting to me, and leaping... the chase itself would be okay if Bond had ZERO energy left at the end. It's really the human body version of firing a gun & never running out of bullets.
Oh, and he crashed through simple drywall- THAT I thought was GREAT! -{

welshboy78

chrisisall wrote:

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Surprised you find the footrunning chase ludicrous, I mean he's not sprinting, just running

Looked like mostly sprinting to me, and leaping... the chase itself would be okay if Bond had ZERO energy left at the end. It's really the human body version of firing a gun & never running out of bullets.
Oh, and he crashed through simple drywall- THAT I thought was GREAT! -{

They say there is little humor in DCs Bond however I found the scene where he crashes through the Wall very Bond like humor.

Q-Branch_2012

Casino Royale has grew on me. I wasn''t much of a fan the first time I watched it, but the more I watch, the more I like. I think it is just getting my head around different styles and different acotrs of the role.

chrisisall

welshboy78 wrote:

They say there is little humor in DCs Bond however I found the scene where he crashes through the Wall very Bond like humor.

Well, it's no 'Tarzan yell.' but it will have to do. )

Thunderpussy

Although it is funny as D Craig has the closest Body to tarzan.
with all that smashing through walls etc. )

David Schofield

And remember, this Bond is the most emotionally immature adult in the world, ahead even of Charlie Sheen. With Vesper a close second.

What sort of worldly 30 somethings talk the way they did on the train, in the bedroom over the suit???? Childish bollux.

Note to EON: when you baulk on the casting of the juvenile Henry Cavill at the last minute and go for an, erm, experienced looking 38 year old, make sure you change the script accordingly X-( 8-)

Napoleon Plural

Have to agree. Ditto with Craig being mistaken for the car valet - again, it makes sense if written for a 28 year old. Or struggling with his confidence in picking up Solange, not to mention the fun but a bit silly trick of driving her around the courtyard back to his hotel door. A lot of this seems to be Haggis thinking, a month or so before filming, that the role would be for a guy in his late 20s. Some real crossed wires there. (Though I'm not sure Solange would have been purring over the very youthful Cavill to quite the same convincing effect.)

chrisisall

I posted this in the sticky above, but I don't think the stickys get looked at too often, so here it is again, since it's a direct sequel to CR...

Again, I broke down & purchased QoS on DVD as a follow up to my doing the same for CR, and again (as for CR) I have to state that I enjoyed it immensely this time. What's more amazing to me is that Craig & the director had to write the bulk of it on the fly... as a stand alone film it's lacking of course, but as a direct sequel I can find almost no fault with it whatsoever. On a technical level, I did not find the 'shakey cam' nor fast editing to be annoying much at all; my visual acuity seems able to handle it well, though I can see where it might present problems for some.
There has been mention of disdain for Field's oil covered body, and Mathis' corpse put in the dumpster- I see no inconsistency with either of these moments. The former was an attempt to misdirect with a nod to GF, the latter was simple disposal of a shell that was an ally to gain escape time IMO.
All in all, fine work under imperfect film making conditions.
Verdict: not the best Bond movie, but VERY far from the worst, and a solid entry despite its reliance on the previous film for its emotional impact. -{

David Schofield

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Have to agree. Ditto with Craig being mistaken for the car valet - again, it makes sense if written for a 28 year old. Or struggling with his confidence in picking up Solange, not to mention the fun but a bit silly trick of driving her around the courtyard back to his hotel door. A lot of this seems to be Haggis thinking, a month or so before filming, that the role would be for a guy in his late 20s. Some real crossed wires there. (Though I'm not sure Solange would have been purring over the very youthful Cavill to quite the same convincing effect.)

Never thought of the valet scene as silly because it was written for a younger man - I just thought it was badly written, stupid and demeaning but now you mention it.... you are quite right, it is a clear hangover from the Cavill script when Bond was young enough to look like a car valet.

And again, spot on on the Solange stuff as well.

-{

chrisisall

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Craig being mistaken for the car valet - again, it makes sense if written for a 28 year old.

Good point- I never picked up on that, I just figured car valets could be any age there... )

Mr Beech

chrisisall wrote:

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Craig being mistaken for the car valet - again, it makes sense if written for a 28 year old.

Good point- I never picked up on that, I just figured car valets could be any age there... )

Can't valets be any age?

My prom was at a really nice beachfront hotel and the valet who took my car (without damaging it) was at least 40. I didn't find it odd at all.

zaphod

Mr Beech wrote:

chrisisall wrote:

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Craig being mistaken for the car valet - again, it makes sense if written for a 28 year old.

Good point- I never picked up on that, I just figured car valets could be any age there... )

Can't valets be any age?

My prom was at a really nice beachfront hotel and the valet who took my car (without damaging it) was at least 40. I didn't find it odd at all.

I really like the scene. It showed Bonds rebellious/mischievous streak a bit like the casual setting off of the alarm in Thunderball. It was also a nicely handled lighter moment from DC. I agree in general re the script making more sense for a younger actor but not in this case as I also believe that Parking Valets can be any age so that part did not jarr for me.

chrisisall

David Schofield wrote:

And remember, this Bond is the most emotionally immature adult in the world,

Bond: "You were pretty good with that hook."
Wai Lin: "Thanks. It comes from growing up in a rough neighbourhood. You were pretty good on that bike."
Bond: "Thanks you. It comes from not growing up at all."

)

MANDY1

chrisisall wrote:

this business about Bond being a world class triathlete is rubbish as far as I'm concerned. In shape? Surely, better than most of us will ever be, but ten minutes of running at full speed? Have YOU ever run at full speed for even A MINUTE??

Ever heard of Cooper Test? Basically you run at full speed for 12 minutes... 8-) ....And yes I have done it many many times

Even this year i managed to run two miles (3.2km) in 12 minutes and not on a track but during winter and rough country in my mid 30's.

chrisisall

Teppo wrote:

Ever heard of Cooper Test? Basically you run at full speed for 12 minutes... 8-) ....And yes I have done it many many times

AND had energy left to leap more than one 3 story jump... AND had energy for a fight, AND then a running escape? All this while drinking too much? )

Look, I am by no means saying it was impossible, just that the Bond I'm familiar with is more into martinis than cardio. Is there any Fleming novel that details a work out routine? Even in NSNA we only see Bond simply pushing a few weights around...

MANDY1

chrisisall wrote:

Teppo wrote:

Ever heard of Cooper Test? Basically you run at full speed for 12 minutes... 8-) ....And yes I have done it many many times

AND had energy left to leap more than one 3 story jump... AND had energy for a fight, AND then a running escape? All this while drinking too much? )

First on your review YOU asked about one minute Full speed 8-) Look at people doing Parkour training, cross-country runners or people who train orienteering. You don't need to be in a world class condition to do that stuff for many many minutes and even after that keep doing other stuff.
Craig's Bond is brought to 21st century where special forces, special military branch employees are expected to be in fit

As for me, after Cooper i was fooked up and i barely could move, cause lactic acids were kicking in me feet and so on....

chrisisall

Teppo wrote:

Craig's Bond is brought to 21st century where special forces, special military branch employees are expected to be in fit

Well, you know I honestly hadn't considered that. Okay. My opinion on that stands mostly corrected.
But he still drinks too much. )

MANDY1

chrisisall wrote:

Teppo wrote:

Craig's Bond is brought to 21st century where special forces, special military branch employees are expected to be in fit

Well, you know I honestly hadn't considered that. Okay. My opinion on that stands mostly corrected.
But he still drinks too much. )

Yeah like they say in DAD that his liver is in bad condition, but thats his own fault )

And in the books, Bond indeed is a heavy-drinker :007)

chrisisall

Teppo wrote:

Yeah like they say in DAD that his liver is in bad condition, but thats his own fault )

LOL, yeah. That was a seriously funny bit BTW!

David Schofield

chrisisall wrote:

David Schofield wrote:

And remember, this Bond is the most emotionally immature adult in the world,

Bond: "You were pretty good with that hook."
Wai Lin: "Thanks. It comes from growing up in a rough neighbourhood. You were pretty good on that bike."
Bond: "Thanks you. It comes from not growing up at all."

)

Oh, come one.

That's Brosnan-Bond being self-referential, spoofing himself and his actions.

The train dialogue and that in the bedroom in CR is meant to be SERIOUS.

There is quite a contextual difference.

8-)

Napoleon Plural

Bruce Fernstein, GE script doctor, bitched about that line, saying that of course the whole thing about Bond is he's very much an adult. He didn't seem to get that, it's just a funny line. The one funny line in the move really. Same about his gag about 'filthy habit!' in the pts. We're not meant to take it literally, it's just a gag.

Sure, valets can be any age, but I think in this case it was written to imply the German was being patronising by assuming the young guy standing there was 'just a valet'.