Saw the excellent new James Bond film, Casino Royale, last night at Hollywood's historic Grauman's Chinese Theater with my friend Heidster. It was Heidster's first film at the Chinese and I think she enjoyed the experience.
First of all, the controversial new Bond is fantastic! Daniel Craig breathes new life into the role which had become little more than a cartoon superhero since the franchise ran out of original Ian Fleming stories back in the 1980s. Casino Royale is based on the very first Bond novel from 1953, and although the story has been updated to the present era (Bond fights terrorists instead of Communists), all the gritty realism and humanity in the books is back on the screen.
Craig's Bond is one bad-ass motherfucker who can take it and dish it out in equal measure. This Bond bleeds and he's not afraid to show his scars, both literal and emotional. Craig also has the best body of all the actors who have bared their chest in the role. He's buff and he's hot!
Like all the Bond films, Casino Royale has plenty of mystery, intrigue and spectacular action sequences and fight scenes, but they seem more realistic and deadlier than the bloated special effects extravaganzas of the more recent Bond epics. The producers claimed they were going back to basics with this film and I for one am delighted they did. I've long hoped to see a faithful presentation of Ian Fleming's original James Bond on the screen instead of the foppish dandy the character had become over the decades. Mr. Fleming would be proud of Craig's new incarnation. The character again has all the brains, brawn, and charm the world's most famous gentleman spy must have to survive his ruthless profession.
Now don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to rag on the other actors who have played Bond. I love all of them! I'm a huge fan of the entire Bond franchise and I've watched all the films dozens if not hundreds of times. Roger Moore played Bond while I was growing up so I have special fondness for his interpretation, but I thought Connery's movies (more faithful to Fleming's novels) were of much higher quality than the later films.
George Lazenby was forgettable in one of the best Bond stories, and Timothy Dalton suffered from poor scripts with no connection to the Ian Fleming source material. Pierce Brosnan brought back the series with great panache after an extended gap following the end of the Cold War. Brosnan was born to play Bond, and he would have done so 20 years ago if NBC had let him out of his Remington Steele contract.
As a student of film music, I also appreciated David Arnold's more traditional Bond score, which seemed to quote or at least allude to the romantic, lushly orchestrated John Barry themes from the classic films in the series. I've enjoyed Arnold's work on the last few Brosnan films but the music had become more electronic and pop-based to reflect the current times. The only musical disappointments in Casino Royale were the lack of Monty Norman's classic "James Bond Theme" during the film except over the end credits; and rocker Chris Cornell's theme song "You Know My Name" was hardly memorable.
As the closing credits proclaimed: "James Bond will return." I can't wait!
Read CNN's review.
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