Casino Royale
Dovy
Posts: 206MI6 Agent
This seems like a film that starts by stitching together some very violent chases interspersed with story, but it isn't cartoonish like Die Another Day (which seems to have the most popular film until Craig's time). I didn't really understand what was going on in the story for about the first hour. I definitely did not like the very mean and hostile relationship between Bond and M.
I did like the fact that fancy technology was minimized in the film, it made it much more realistic.
My FIRST IMPRESSION about Craig is that his Bond is like a plain thug, no humor, no charm, no personality. Looks like this style is all the writers and producers thought today's audience could possibly tolerate or care about. Of course for those of us who know nothing about playing Poker, the events at the game are above our heads. However, it suddenly stimulates my interest in learning about poker.
Here are some numbered questions I had about the film, and look forward to input from participants.
1) Do we assume that this reboot is sort of a prequel before the assorted villains in the previous films arose, i.e. Dr. No, Goldfinger, Scaramanga, etc. etc.?
2) Why was Bond able to break into M's apartment? Didn't she have any high tech security, considering how much high tech stuff appears in these films? Certainly if he violated basic rules including breaking into the embassy, he should have presumably automatically been fired, yet M kept him on.......
3) I don’t remember the scene when M placed the tracker into Bond's arm. If it is such a good idea, why didn't Q in previous Bond incarnations come up with the same simple device?! I found a good summary of the film that explains the flow of the story but leaves alot of questions that I hope participants can help with!
4) Why does everyone including Le Chiffre know him as Bond if he is posing as Arlington Beech in the hotel in Montenegro? What do they know ABOUT him as “James Bond”?
5) If Vesper is an agent sent by the Treasury, did the Treasury agree for her to save her boyfriend? How did Obanno know about a problem with his own money in order to go after Le Chiffre, and why didn't Le Chiffre have bodyguards?
6) Isn't this the first film where a Bond is visibly badly injured ( in the hotel against Obanno's man in the stairwell)? Bond’s hands were cut but Le Chiffre didn't notice this at the table. Like all Bonds, Craig recovers wonderfully rapidly from the fight and his wounds, including Le Chiffre's torture, which I would imagine would be impossible to recover from completely ever, even after hospitalization.
7) How did MI6 know to find Mathis at the hospital in Italy, to track Bond? Did Mathis arrange for Bond to be taken to Italy? How did White happen to be around in Venice and locate the case with the money after all the destruction in the building?
8) Finally, what did M mean she doesn't know who was "behind this"? Behind what exactly? White and Gettler managing money of terrorists but who end up stealing everything?
Comments
That's a lot of questions, Dovy- it might help if you numbered them?
Meantime, here's a couple of responses - the tracker was inserted into Bond's arm during the scene in which we see Solange has been killed. Vesper isn't an agent sent by M but works for the Treasury.
Edit - this is a minority opinion, but I agree with your impression of Craig.
I JUST REDID THE POSTING. Thanks for the input. By the way, should I bother watching Quantum of Solace? I see online so many negative reviews about it.
I don't want to answer all of your questions, to allow others to have input but I will answer number 1- no.
Two little points - the man who has the golden gun is called Scaramanga not Caramanga, and Bond works for MI6 not M16.
Edit - yes, absolutely watch QoS. Just put your fingers in your ears during the titles.
Thank you, Barbel. I just fixed my posting. I have started advancing the slider when the titles start with the singing etc. I wonder why they insisted in having such a long singing intro in each film..........
They could have been longer - many of the title songs as heard onscreen are edited, compared to the versions available on albums etc.
In most cases, the main titles and their songs are a highlight. Quantum is a bit of an exception because I'm not particularly keen on the visuals or the music.
dovy said:
1) Do we assume that this reboot is sort of a prequel before the assorted villains in the previous films arose, i.e. Dr. No, Goldfinger, Scaramanga, etc. etc.?
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there was a video game associated with SkyFall that revealed CraigBond does have adventures analogous with Goldfinger, OHMSS, Moonraker, and one each of Dalton and Brosnan's films. Basically five levels, one for an adventure of each previous Bond except now recast with Craigbond. And they're not identical to the originals, each looks very reimagined. it is tempting to accept this video game as canon, especially as there is a large in-universe time gap between Quantum... and skyFall and we must wonder what Bond was experiencing during those missing years (though as a non-gamer I would resent having to play a video game to experience the characters complete saga)
There is a Tracy during the OHMSS section, Unfortunately there is also a Blofeld in this section, and when you get to SPECTRE you will see that both this video game and SPECTRE cannot exist in the same continuity.
dovy said:
I don’t remember the scene when M placed the tracker into Bond's arm
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its the scene where Bond says "ouch". a gag that is reprised in No Time to Die
dovy said:
6) Isn't this the first film where a Bond is visibly badly injured ( in the hotel against Obanno's man in the stairwell)? Bond’s hands were cut but Le Chiffre didn't notice this at the table. Like all Bonds, Craig recovers wonderfully rapidly from the fight and his wounds, including Le Chiffre's torture, which I would imagine would be impossible to recover from completely ever, even after hospitalization.
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I think ConneryBond might have bled once or twice. MooreBond bleeds slightly during the fight in the bellydancers changeroom in Golden Gun, but otherwise he is the most indestructible Bond
you must remember BrosnanBond's injured shoulder from World is Not Enough as it was a plotpoint.
as a general rule cinematic Bond survives a ridiculous amount of abuse to the body with nary a scratch. In Fleming's books, Bond is a bloody shambles at the end of each adventure requiring weeks of hospitalization. One thing I like about Quantum is CraigBond looks exactly like a bloody shambles by the films end.
as to CraigBonds wounds after le Chiffre's torture, well thats proof of his Mojo: James Bond had balls of steel and needs them to do his job and save the world!
in the book he does fear he'll never be able to function with a lady again while recovering in the hospital
Well, he will certainly function in the films after that horrendous torture. The questios is simply HOW.......
To be honest, this film left me more a lot of questions, than I did when I was reading the book, because mainly Fleming explained all of the events or the scenes in detail, he could come up with reasons for every situation.
But the film, it left me a bit confused, does Quantum of Solace answered some of my questions? Yes at some point, but not all (particularly or especially those plotholes).
The thing is they've put a lot of action (the PTS) in it while putting the whole concept or core of the story a bit at the backseat, the novel while less action, much more understandable.
One thing that you forgot here @Dovy is about the money, what happened to the money? When she puts the code, where does the money go? Well everything about Vesper, the money and its relation to Quantum, that's where the question revolves around for me.
And the answer to that question is????
2) Good question, and I hate to be "that guy" but a lot of questions can be answered with "he can because he is Bond" or "so the movie can happen". This suspension of disbelief is IMHO a prerequisite to enjoy a Bond movie. Most Bond films won't stand up to a lot of scrutiny when viewed without it.
3) Although it is not an implant, a similar device was used in Goldfinger. I.e. the Little Homer that 007 could hide in his shoe. I have always seen the CR tracker as an evolution of that gadget.
4) It depends. When watching CR in isolation, not much. He is a rookie agent and far from the famous international super spy he will become/was in previous movies. However, if you take the retconned Craig timeline into account, Le Chiffre would know everything about him. Since Le Chiffre's boss is Bond's foster brother AND the author of all his pain. When I watch CR, I see Le Chiffre's response during the introduction as a reaction to Bond giving his real name at the reception a few minutes earlier and nothing more.