tstone
04-21-2007, 06:30 AM
Bond is Back, and Daniel Craig nails him. As I pointed out earlier in my Goldeneye review, the Bond franchise had become formulaic in the Moore era to the point of calsification. Bond existed in a fantasy version of the real world, with the "commies" out there doing their thing. They would cause headaches for Bond to deal with, but most of the time, he contended with various supervillains and other nogoodnicks. And the world stayed in this haze that was his playground. That is, until the end of the Cold War eliminated this style of execution.
The Brosnan Bond films were the most radical changeup in response to the world changing around 007, but even then, the changes were just window dressing. The formula stayed essentially the same. But it forced a kind of compressed escalation of trappings and formula that seemed to end the Brosnan era after just four films.
The franchise still had tons of fans. And clearly, 007 is one of MGM's most valuable franchises. But how should the series go on? That's when someone in the studio had a radical idea...take 007 back to his roots, fully embrace the new political realities in the world, and have Bond fully existing in it, rather than serenely careening above it.
And why not do it by going back to the basics, that being the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale? Interesting thing about CR, is that it's been adapted twice before, but neither in the film "canon". And they stick pretty closely to the books details, with some changes for the differences in the world's geopolitics. Le Chiffre is the chief villain, except in this case, the funds he wins in gambling goes to pay back the money fronted by terrorist groups. He keeps a cut, gives them back their principle plus interest has made himself a wealthy man thusly.
Bond isn't out to kill him in this version, or to entice anyone else to. He's hoping to bankrupt the guy, and make him turn to the British government for protection. But things get crazy and not everything goes according to plan. Bond toys with leaving the service, falls in love, finds the real bad guy, and kills in revenge. Oh, he also got the hell tortured out of him, too.
There was seemingly much controversy when Daniel Craig was announced as the new Bond. I don't understand why, as I thought he captured the gentleman spy/thug duality of Bond perhaps better than anyone else has yet. Sean Connery had the "thug" aspect, Brosnan had the gentleman aspect, but Craig got both. He also captured a true humanity in Bond, a Bond that wasn't invulnerable to the world. A Bond that can screw up, make mistakes, etc.
We've started anew. Looking forward to seeing where this series now goes, and this is an excellent start.
This is the best restart of an old series that capture the essentials of what made it great, yet tweaked or dispelled the weaknesses of the original series, since the Doctor Who restart.
(I would include Battlestar Galactica, but that one is fundamentally different from the original. Who and Bond aren't, just refined.)
The Brosnan Bond films were the most radical changeup in response to the world changing around 007, but even then, the changes were just window dressing. The formula stayed essentially the same. But it forced a kind of compressed escalation of trappings and formula that seemed to end the Brosnan era after just four films.
The franchise still had tons of fans. And clearly, 007 is one of MGM's most valuable franchises. But how should the series go on? That's when someone in the studio had a radical idea...take 007 back to his roots, fully embrace the new political realities in the world, and have Bond fully existing in it, rather than serenely careening above it.
And why not do it by going back to the basics, that being the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale? Interesting thing about CR, is that it's been adapted twice before, but neither in the film "canon". And they stick pretty closely to the books details, with some changes for the differences in the world's geopolitics. Le Chiffre is the chief villain, except in this case, the funds he wins in gambling goes to pay back the money fronted by terrorist groups. He keeps a cut, gives them back their principle plus interest has made himself a wealthy man thusly.
Bond isn't out to kill him in this version, or to entice anyone else to. He's hoping to bankrupt the guy, and make him turn to the British government for protection. But things get crazy and not everything goes according to plan. Bond toys with leaving the service, falls in love, finds the real bad guy, and kills in revenge. Oh, he also got the hell tortured out of him, too.
There was seemingly much controversy when Daniel Craig was announced as the new Bond. I don't understand why, as I thought he captured the gentleman spy/thug duality of Bond perhaps better than anyone else has yet. Sean Connery had the "thug" aspect, Brosnan had the gentleman aspect, but Craig got both. He also captured a true humanity in Bond, a Bond that wasn't invulnerable to the world. A Bond that can screw up, make mistakes, etc.
We've started anew. Looking forward to seeing where this series now goes, and this is an excellent start.
This is the best restart of an old series that capture the essentials of what made it great, yet tweaked or dispelled the weaknesses of the original series, since the Doctor Who restart.
(I would include Battlestar Galactica, but that one is fundamentally different from the original. Who and Bond aren't, just refined.)