There’s a new Bond in town

I got to see the new Bond film, Casino Royale last week. It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about the franchise, the studios having diluted their product to the point of unwatchability. The final episodes of Brosnan’s tenure, though I didn’t see the last one, were so rife with product placement as to give the watcher the impression that they were locked in a 2 hour commercial.

They’ve toned it down a little for the new show. The glitzy products are still there, but not quite so flagrant. And really, how can you expect a modern man to go through 2 hours of film without mentioning his Omega watch or smoothly caressing the buffalo hide interior of his Aston Martin? I couldn’t.

So, that problem rectified, how did the rest of the film shape-up? Pretty well, in my opinion. The new Bond, Daniel Craig wore the tuxedos and watches very well. And why shouldn’t he? The man’s built! Sure, he’s blond and blue-eyed, but this is not the heresy the british press would have you believe. He works as the double-Oh-seven and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

Very dirty.

Unlike the previous few incarnations of the character, this is a Bond that is not only capable of getting physical with his quarries, he revels in it. In an attempt to revitalize the franchise, Daniel Craig is run through the wringer in one of the most acrobatic and athletic foot-chase scenes in recent memory. What’s best, is that he’s actually believable in it.

In an interesting nod to the body of work that came before him, a brief scene at the beginning of the movie (shot in stylish black and white) dispenses the origin of how Bond got his double-0 status. What’s interesting about the scene is that it came from the last film that actually had a physically-capable Bond in it, “In Her Majesty’s Secret Service” with the much-maligned, and rather under-rated George Lazenby.

The title sequence was simply brilliant and I won’t spoil it for anyone. Even the cheesy, Foreigner-esque rock intro by Chris Cornell couldn’t ruin it, and in fact, kind of worked.

That said, there were flaws. The movie suffers from some severe pacing issues. The obligatory romantic add-on in the middle almost slows the movie to a halt. An extended recovery period seems down-right surreal in its writing and presentation. An abortive car-chase ends inexplicably and abruptly, with what could only be about a hundred miles of road missing from the beginning and end. Bond exhibits a high degree of stupidity in several scenes in the movie, usually to disastrous result.

The main villain, “Le Chiffre” was interesting enough though not a classic “Bond Villain” in the sense that he didn’t have any super-powers other than some high-order math skills. Some people found this unsatisfying, but I actually liked it. It was only too bad that his deformities were over-played. He would have been more interesting had he been more normal.

As for the Bond Girls, there were a few in play and not too hard to look at. Oddly, the most fan service in this movie came from Craig himself in full speedo in a parody of Ursula Andress’ appearance on the beach in Dr. No.

This is a different James Bond. He’s wild, a little out of control, a danger to himself and others and clearly enjoying his work a little too much. Is this the best Bond movie ever? No, probably not. I think Thunderball still owns that spot. Is it a close second? Quite likely. Not since Connery have we had such a powerful Bond. Even with its flaws, it’s the best Bond movie in 30 years.

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