My name's bored, very bored...
Okay so the reaction from fans before Casino Royale was released was not good. But, I've been a Bond fan since I was a kid, I look forward to the next film - I even like the much deplored George Lazenby outing as 007 in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. So if anyone's gonna get on with the new film surely I would?
Sadly I was mistaken, badly mistaken. Probably the only other film I've been to the cinema and disliked so much was the Tom Cruise remake of War Of The Worlds. Perhaps the lesson behind it all is that sometimes a 'classic' should be left well alone... would we tolerate a remaking of a classic like Goldfinger? Okay so not many people will have seen any of the different Casino Royale adaptions but Fleming's novel is a classic - you can't simply "update it" to fit in a modern setting.
Apparently the reason Pearce Brosnan was replaced was because this was going back in time - to how Bond became Bond. I can understand the rationale but the disposal of the rest of the cast except for Judy Dench playing M was just crazy. But apparently it was okay because she is such a good actress. Yes, she's a good actress but she was warmer to Bond in this one than in the one she debuted as the 'new' M. But no Moneypenny? All very weird. Then there's the whole time thing - this was a modern flick complete with phones and laptops - hardly when Bond started out ... yet no Q (or Master-at-Arms?) as he's referred to in the early flicks.. and even worse no real gadgets. And you have to feel sorry for Felix Leiter... Man that guy must be having a bigger identity crisis than Michael Jackson, as he's back and this time he's black (again).
The action scenes were good, but a bit pointless in the overall script. If Bond was being stripeed down to him at his basics then why was that initial chase so long and after such a minor character? It was a bit like "ohhh we need a big chase", "ohhh haven't had a car chase yet let's slap it here". Look at some of the students that established the 007 films reputation in the area - skiing over a cliff to unveil a Union Jack parachute in The Spy Who Loved Me, the corkscrew jump over a river in The Man With A Golden Gun, a tank chase through the Russian Streets in Goldeneye - is there anything in this film to even come close?
Another strange thing was a role reversal - Bond in his trunks coming out of the ocean just like Honey Ryder in Dr No or later Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson in Die Another Day. Don't get me wrong I'm in favour of more naked men on our screens just not Bond. That's not what he does. Catch a clip of Daniel Craig along with every other good bit of the movie gathered together in a short clip on Youtube:
Have to say I didn't have a problem with how Daniel Craig played Bond and hope he returns. I think he was let down by a poor script. Updated for the modern audience it was about the financing of international terrorism - not exactly the world domination/destruction of previous movies. So it was Bond vs an asthma inhaler wielding accountant... so evil that a choice of underpants in the morning would prove too much for him. There was just no big baddie in this one - who was And a missed opportunity to introduce fans to the whole SMERSH/SPECTRE thing..
If you knew something about poker or cards then the films might have appealed more as these scenes really did drag. I mean for a great set piece of action I shouldn't be sat in the cinema wishing for the credits to roll should I?
The product placement was more shameless than previously: Ford, Sony Ericsson, Virgin, Richard Branson ('cause he's a product as much as Virgin are) and VAIO laptops. You should all ask for some money back and teach the film company something about quality control in return. Sorry but IMHO you were all associated with a rather second-rate film.
I just really couldn't wait to leave the cinema, for the first time in over fifteen years. I couldn't even watch the credit sequence. Surely this film had done more damage to Bond than the combined might of Blofeld, Auric Goldfinger, Elliot Carver or Alec Trevelyan could ever do?
Glenn, Simon and Q seemed to enjoy it - so maybe it's just me that was left shaken not stirred? I guess I feel penalised because I saw and knew about all the previous films. I hope Daniel Craigs next adventure is a bit more successful - this is one Bond movie that certainly won't be making it onto my DVD collection.