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The recent lack of buzz for Casino
Royale. Why does nobody seem to
care?
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Casino Royal is getting attention because of the unprecedented lack of
enthusiasm.
Although the article’s writer tries to build Craig up, it is an unavoidable
conclusion that Craig is indeed the reason for the lackluster buzz. Craig
together with the abandoning of the Bond heritage found in the books and
movies, seems to spell disaster at the Box Office.
In startling retrospect, the conservative expectation for the 5th Brosnan
Bond movie was for it to break Die Another Days Box Office records.
We suspect Sony wishes now they had Pierce on board that boat last
October.
stv.tv
Casino Royale - The Bond Identity
Article by Stephen Carty
Many years before Jason Bourne lost his memory and
decades prior to Jack Bauer repeatedly having the worst
day of his life, there was only one super spy that the cinema
going public cared about, and that was James Bond. Ever
since Sir Sean Connery uttered the words “Bond… James
Bond”, viewers everywhere have been fascinated with the
exploits of the world’s most famous patron of espionage.
But the recent buzz (or lack thereof) surrounding the latest
edition suggests something of a lacklustre level of
enthusiasm.
So why does nobody seem to care? You would think that
with a new Bond, a return to the character’s origin and the
appointment of Martin Campbell at the helm (director of
arguably the last decent instalment, Goldeneye) that
excitement levels would have the fan-boys lining the streets
in their fake tuxedos. But, unfortunately for all those
involved, the fans seem to have lost their appetite and their
passion has, to adequately sum it up, died another day.
Inevitably, the majority of the speculation and pre-movie
bashing has been laid at the door of the newest man to have
his vodka martinis shaken and not stirred, Daniel Craig.
With Pierce Brosnan hanging up his Walther-PPK, Craig
becomes the sixth James Bond (Do we really have to count
George Lazenby? Oh alright then) and has some very big
shoes to fill. Besides the living embodiment of James Bond
that is Sean Connery, Craig also has to contend with Roger
Moore (whose very name is a double entendre), super-
smooth Pierce and Timothy “I know – let’s try and give
Bond some depth” Dalton.
Therefore, aside from the fact that many have suggested he
looks more like a henchman, Craig seems to have already
been written off rather unfairly and will have to do
something fairly special to appease those who want him to
be simultaneously as tough as Connery, as humorous as
Moore and as slick as Brosnan.
But is the new blond-haired, blued eyed 007 really to blame
for the lethargy surrounding Casino Royale? In short, no he
is not. Taking a more educated look at recent years, one
could explain the lack of anticipation by taking into account
the poor quality of the last few movies and the dumbing
down of Ian Fleming’s source material. Sure, not every
Bond movie has been great and there were a few cringe-
worthy scenes (the pigeons doing a double take in
Moonraker anyone?) but the good always outweighed the
bad and the movies did not pretend to be something they
were not.
Whether it was Connery’s undeniable charisma or Moore’s
uncontrollable eyebrow (which really did have a life of its
own) the films charmed and satisfied their audiences by
following the Bondian blueprint and, unlike recent efforts,
did not pander to American audiences with explosions every
three minutes.
What lies in store for Bond next remains to be seen but let
us hope that we lose the token bad-guys, the invisible cars
and the garden variety plotting in favour of some gritty
spying, a few nifty one-liners and – one can only hope – a
bald guy stroking a white cat. “Ah, Mr Bond… I’ve been
expecting you.” Haven’t we all…
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