The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Bond Begins

Being signed up for two marquees in the coming week and still feeling too run down to concentrate and be at all competitive, I passed on hitting a new venue for a marquee tonight and instead went out to see Casino Royale.

With a running time of 144 minutes and a PG-13 rating, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I knew some of new Bond, Daniel Craig's work - including 2004's Layer Cake, which is what brought him some international attention - and had caught the edge of an overwhelmingly positive buzz.

I wasn't disappointed.

With Casino Royale we get a new Bond, but moreover we get the first Bond, which is to say this is James Bond 007's first adventure. As it's set in the contemporary world we either have to make many amendments to the many Bond films done over the years or presume they've essentially been wiped out by a reset.

The opening scene -- with flashbacks within it -- covers the specific, final acts of ascension to double-O status and is shot in black and white. After the opening credits and music (a theme that I enjoyed but could not for the life of me hold in my head to replay) we're soon treated to a foot chase which is a joy to watch as Bond races to catch a character played by freerunning founder/popularizer/star Sebastien Foucan, whose artful evasions challenge Bond from second to second. Sure, there are several spots where the chase is gratuitous -- easier solutions come to mind -- but even then it remains entertaining.

In a scene much later in the film there's even something of an hommage to a now-classic scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark that got some laughs out of me without being a joke or derailing the movie.

Don't go into this looking for some immediate global threat - some massive, super-scientific weapon or some spectacular crime stunt for the plot to hinge on - because it's not there. There's no orbiting death ray, no plot to super-value the gold supply, hold nations hostage with nuclear weapons, start World War III or wipe out all human life on Earth. This movie doesn't need that sort of gimmick.

I won't try to go through it scene by scene - no need to, and I want to do a couple other things before bed - but I will tell you that most of what you might have heard in praise of the new James Bond struck me as warranted. Craig brings a Steve McQueen coolness to the character while bringing out an underlying brutality - something from the early novels that Hollywood tended to shy away from or immediately link to jokes. M refers to him early in the film as "a blunt instrument" but soon learns that there's much more to him and his abilities. Once he cleans up and gets into a tux we get a taste of the Sean Connery Bond, though not some cheap imitation; we merely get to see sincere indications of where the character is headed. I make no comment on "beefcake" status as I lack the necessary perspective to make such judgments.

Knowing that Craig was extremely reluctant to take the role -- afraid it might flush a carefully crafted career and a strong theater reputation while simultaneously locking him in the Bond persona -- I'm not sure how many of these he'll be up for. It's almost impossible to imagine they'd sign a new Bond without having it be part of an at least three picture deal, so we likely can look forward to at least two more. Providing they don't screw it up with a lousy script and/or director I expect to be there to enjoy them.

Tags: Casino Royale, new James Bond