Movie Review: Casino Royale
Nov. 28th, 2006 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarahmichelefWith the advantage of built-in, ready-and-willing babysitters, M and I went out to (*gasp*) see a movie over the weekend. We of course chose Casino Royale which we had both been looking forward to.
In general, we both loved it. I am a Bond movie person; I confess to having never (knowingly) read a single word written by Ian Fleming. And so I have no particular investment in whether or not Bond is blond or dark-haired or any of that claptrap. I am, apparently, a Bond-movie-opening purist. While I really enjoyed Chris Cornell's music and lyrics (I actually woke up overnight last night with it running through my head, though I can't produce a note or word of it now), it was JUST NOT RIGHT to have anything other than the Bond Theme over the opening credits. JUST NOT RIGHT! The opening animations were fantastic, though.
Plot-wise, I loved that you kept thinking that things were resolved, but really they weren't. Look, he foiled the plan to blow up the prototype of the Airbus A-380 (or whatever they called it in the movie - it was clearly intended to be the A380). But now the investors who were counting on the plot to tank the stock (I did love the subtlety of that particular detail...) are pissed off. And there's gonna be this poker game where Le Chiffre has to win the money back. And Bond has to go and win. All the loose ends came together oh-so nicely. (And, indicentally, I wasn't terribly bothered by the fact that it was no-limit hold 'em that they played. They're trying to bring Bond into the 21st century, and that game has so permeated the popular consciousness that it makes sense.)
Casting-wise... Well, Daniel Craig is just yummy, but not in the "OMG he's so pretty" way that Pierce Brosnan is. Anyway, DC definitely "became" Bond faster than Pierce Brosnan did. (I would argue that it took until about halfway through Tomorrow Never Dies for PB to really grow into the role.) Maybe that's because Casino Royale is about Bond becoming Bond, but it worked. Eva Green was brilliant. She's so stunningly gorgeous, but not in a conventional way. I lovedlovedloved Vesper... her matching wits with during their first meeting, the intensity of them sitting in the shower together after James kills the "freedom fighters". And I will forever be in love with Judi Dench as M.
I loved the tongue-in-cheek-ness of Bond rising up out of the water all dripping and sexy. (And is it me, or did he have his shirt off more than he had it on?) I actually really like the "creation of Bond" angle. I feel like Vesper as the "original" Bond girl and her betrayal of James really is what makes him the playboy that he becomes. I love him defying M at every turn, his calling her "Mum" after he breaks into her apartment. (As an aside - M is married? WTF?) And, much as I hated the lack of the Bond Theme at the beginning, having it come in after he kills Mr. White is really perfect - that does very much mark the moment of his becoming.
Damn... now I really want to go see it again.Plot-wise, I loved that you kept thinking that things were resolved, but really they weren't. Look, he foiled the plan to blow up the prototype of the Airbus A-380 (or whatever they called it in the movie - it was clearly intended to be the A380). But now the investors who were counting on the plot to tank the stock (I did love the subtlety of that particular detail...) are pissed off. And there's gonna be this poker game where Le Chiffre has to win the money back. And Bond has to go and win. All the loose ends came together oh-so nicely. (And, indicentally, I wasn't terribly bothered by the fact that it was no-limit hold 'em that they played. They're trying to bring Bond into the 21st century, and that game has so permeated the popular consciousness that it makes sense.)
Casting-wise... Well, Daniel Craig is just yummy, but not in the "OMG he's so pretty" way that Pierce Brosnan is. Anyway, DC definitely "became" Bond faster than Pierce Brosnan did. (I would argue that it took until about halfway through Tomorrow Never Dies for PB to really grow into the role.) Maybe that's because Casino Royale is about Bond becoming Bond, but it worked. Eva Green was brilliant. She's so stunningly gorgeous, but not in a conventional way. I lovedlovedloved Vesper... her matching wits with during their first meeting, the intensity of them sitting in the shower together after James kills the "freedom fighters". And I will forever be in love with Judi Dench as M.
I loved the tongue-in-cheek-ness of Bond rising up out of the water all dripping and sexy. (And is it me, or did he have his shirt off more than he had it on?) I actually really like the "creation of Bond" angle. I feel like Vesper as the "original" Bond girl and her betrayal of James really is what makes him the playboy that he becomes. I love him defying M at every turn, his calling her "Mum" after he breaks into her apartment. (As an aside - M is married? WTF?) And, much as I hated the lack of the Bond Theme at the beginning, having it come in after he kills Mr. White is really perfect - that does very much mark the moment of his becoming.
