20 November 2006

Casino Royale Ain't Bond Enough

Like 99.5% of Bond fans, I screamed incredulously when Daniel Craig was revealed to be the next 007. I thought, “How the heck is this possible?” After watching Casino Royale though, I have to concede that he was a good choice.

 

If so, why the negative title of this post? Despite its many raving reviews, it just doesn’t feel like a Bond film to me. It’s a very solid action and spy movie, but it’s just not Bond. I don’t care if this Bond movie is touted as being true to Fleming’s vision. A true Bond movie is a Bond movie with megalomaniac dictators, Q’s gadgets, and funny double entendres with vixens named Pussy Galore. You’ll find that none of those appear in this installment. Another thing – I don’t know about you, but I loved it when the James Bond theme plays whenever 007 pulls off an action sequence. Well, in Casino Royale the 007 theme appears only during the ending credits and wasn’t used at all in action scenes. In other words, it’s like any other action movie.

 

I’m of course being a little unfair. I enjoyed myself thoroughly throughout the 2.5 hour running time. The movie song is not bad at all, while the opening montage/collage is commendable. I still encourage everyone to watch it, even those who hated the earlier movies. But if you are a Bond traditionalist like me, you’ll find that it doesn’t rise to the occasion quite hard enough.

 

On another note, I’m upset that I can’t find my Die Another Day and Goldeneye DVD. I loved those two movies very much! Guess it’s time for another trip down to my friendly neighbourhood DVD seller.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Casino Royale ROCKED. IMHO the BEST Bond movie!

Zemien said...

The best? I'm not going to argue with you as I did enjoy myself, but I do hope they are able to make a rousing climax for the next Bond film, rather than the monotonous outing this time round.

And sorry guys for all the sexual puns so far

Anonymous said...

I HATED THE MOVIE... and I stayed up to an ungodly hour to watch it!

damndest!

Anonymous said...

"you’ll find that it doesn’t rise to the occasion quite hard enough."

What the?!

I don't know. I don't quite like all the new Bond movies, especially those Pierce Brosnan ones. Perhaps I watched too many Sean Connery reruns.

Zemien said...

joshua: Hate is just another form of love. The kind where you want to bitchslap Daniel Craig, maybe, but still love!

william: I already apologized for making sexual puns! What else do you demand!?!

I kinda like Pierce Brosnan's Bond because he is the Bond I grew up with.

Anonymous said...

This will make me seem "ancient", but I'll comment anyway.
I grew up with Pierce Brosnan in "Remington Steele". Itu baru gayanya terserlah.

Opps, didn't notice your apology. But anyway, you can keep doing it. I'll just say "eh?!" everytime.