Oh Ohhh S'heaven!!
No prizes for guessing what the highlight of my weekend was! Casino Royale, in the grand tradition of 'prequels' was probably one of the most anticipated James Bond releases, and I admit, the only one I have seen in the theater so soon after the release.
To set the record straight, I am not really a James Bond fan. Doesn't mean I detest the genre or anything...au contraire, I quite enjoy watching attractive men wear tuxedos and save the world from bad guys. Just that I have seen only maybe three or four of the movies. None of the new ones with Pierce Brosnan. So coming from an almost-novice Bondie like me, this must mean a lot: THIS MOVIE ROCKS!!!
The aura surrounding James Bond - the mystique, the raw masculine attractiveness, and beyond all, the sheer style he embodies - comes wayyy alive in Daniel Craig. Talk about pleasant surprises! When I heard about him as the choice for the new (old) Bond, I cringed...I was rooting for Jude Law. But man, oh man...was I wrong! This guy is s-e-x-y!! Tight coiled spring, classic v-shaped body, tall, maybe not dark and handsome in the traditional sense, but well, hot :)
Okay, I'll stop gushing over his hot bod...I won't even mention his 'perfectly formed arse' (direct quote!) or the famous gasp-worthy swimsuit scene.
I'll point out some other non-Daniel-Craig things I really enjoyed about this movie...(baby spoilers ahead...nothing major)
- The fabulous first action sequence involving parkour. I first saw a parkour video about 2 months back and was amazed...this is an urban extreme sport which seems to slowly be taking the world by storm. The terrorist Bond chases is actually a famous parkour artiste, Sebastian Foucan, credited with creating 'free running', another parkour-like activity. There's literally thousands of videos online, but here's the scene directly from the film.
- The cool references to some Bond signatures - the way they introduce the Aston Martin, the impatience with the 'shaken or stirred' question, the way they almost reveal M's name.
- The first scene, which establishes him as a "Double 0" agent.
- The refreshing toning down of the 'item girls' and the bizarreness of the bad guys without making it completely boring. After all, what's a James Bond movie without beautiful women and strange but worthy opponents?! I loved the way Vesper Lynd pays him back when he suggests she wears something that distracts the card players from the game to her neckline. I also liked the slightly spooky bleeding eyes of the villian.
- The fact that this was definitely early Bond - work in progress. M is constantly angry with him, he does seem to kill more easily and efficiently than any of the others, not so sure about the sentimentality, but it marks his vulnerability and makes him real. Before he becomes a suave, wisecracking international spy with gadgets and girls galore.
- The poker games. I don't know this game well, but these were well orchestrated.
- The fantastic last line...what we'd been waiting for all along, delivered perfectly.
There's a couple of things I didn't understand. I noticed a few times there were references to a number 378...any idea why? Didn't quite get the CIA involvement - it seemed to disappear as soon as it appeared. Also, no Q?
Oh well, never mind. No need to analyze it all to death. All I can say it, this movie left me shaken and stirred :) Enjoy!
To set the record straight, I am not really a James Bond fan. Doesn't mean I detest the genre or anything...au contraire, I quite enjoy watching attractive men wear tuxedos and save the world from bad guys. Just that I have seen only maybe three or four of the movies. None of the new ones with Pierce Brosnan. So coming from an almost-novice Bondie like me, this must mean a lot: THIS MOVIE ROCKS!!!
The aura surrounding James Bond - the mystique, the raw masculine attractiveness, and beyond all, the sheer style he embodies - comes wayyy alive in Daniel Craig. Talk about pleasant surprises! When I heard about him as the choice for the new (old) Bond, I cringed...I was rooting for Jude Law. But man, oh man...was I wrong! This guy is s-e-x-y!! Tight coiled spring, classic v-shaped body, tall, maybe not dark and handsome in the traditional sense, but well, hot :)
Okay, I'll stop gushing over his hot bod...I won't even mention his 'perfectly formed arse' (direct quote!) or the famous gasp-worthy swimsuit scene.
I'll point out some other non-Daniel-Craig things I really enjoyed about this movie...(baby spoilers ahead...nothing major)
- The fabulous first action sequence involving parkour. I first saw a parkour video about 2 months back and was amazed...this is an urban extreme sport which seems to slowly be taking the world by storm. The terrorist Bond chases is actually a famous parkour artiste, Sebastian Foucan, credited with creating 'free running', another parkour-like activity. There's literally thousands of videos online, but here's the scene directly from the film.
- The cool references to some Bond signatures - the way they introduce the Aston Martin, the impatience with the 'shaken or stirred' question, the way they almost reveal M's name.
- The first scene, which establishes him as a "Double 0" agent.
- The refreshing toning down of the 'item girls' and the bizarreness of the bad guys without making it completely boring. After all, what's a James Bond movie without beautiful women and strange but worthy opponents?! I loved the way Vesper Lynd pays him back when he suggests she wears something that distracts the card players from the game to her neckline. I also liked the slightly spooky bleeding eyes of the villian.
- The fact that this was definitely early Bond - work in progress. M is constantly angry with him, he does seem to kill more easily and efficiently than any of the others, not so sure about the sentimentality, but it marks his vulnerability and makes him real. Before he becomes a suave, wisecracking international spy with gadgets and girls galore.
- The poker games. I don't know this game well, but these were well orchestrated.
- The fantastic last line...what we'd been waiting for all along, delivered perfectly.
There's a couple of things I didn't understand. I noticed a few times there were references to a number 378...any idea why? Didn't quite get the CIA involvement - it seemed to disappear as soon as it appeared. Also, no Q?
Oh well, never mind. No need to analyze it all to death. All I can say it, this movie left me shaken and stirred :) Enjoy!
posted by RTD2 at 10:12 PM
3 Comments:
I enjoyed the Woody Allen, David Niven Peter Sellers one :) I am sure this is as good.
E - I thought that one was a spoof? Well, maybe I'm mistaken..I haven't watched it.
Cherie - Abso-bloomin-lutely! Cheers :)
Oh yeah, shaken and stirred, i was left as well. :)
Loved Daniel Craig as well... and like you wasn't quite sure how this Bond would fare initially. But taken by a very pleasant surprise i must say!!
Much more real, believable and hot mesays! :D
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