In “Casino Royale,” James Bond’s boss, M, played by Dame Judi Dench, excoriates him for botching a job, snapping, “Any thug can kill people.” And any thug can be a witless boozer. Author Ian Fleming’s suave British secret agent has turned into a muscled killer in this new movie. Played by Daniel Craig, he’s ill-suited…
The important thing to remember is this: James Bond was not a lithe, “pantherlike” superhero. He was, in the words of Anthony Burgess, a “globetrotting clubman,” who looked more comfortable at a dinner table than in a gym. In just about every novel Fleming took pains to emphasize this fact, juxtaposing him with a variety…
I suppose I better get this out of the way first: I wasn’t as enamored with this Bond entry as many others that I have spoken to about it. I even had one friend say “Daniel Craig is better than Connery!” — please. I suppose his muscle-bound physique, and the ludicrous plot details, match perfectly…
So why isn’t Casino Royale the greatest Bond film ever? After all, we have a new Bond in Daniel Craig, and other critics have been giving him rave reviews. Furthermore, the film starts off with a very vintage Bond look as shots are devoid of color and camera angles are taken from extreme angles. Unfortunately,…
When Daniel Craig was announced as the new James Bond last year, the 007 faithful over in Britain got their knickers into quite a twist. They bellyached that the actor was too much of a thug, his hair and eye color weren’t right for Bond, and that he didn’t even know how to drive a…
I can find one nice thing to say about Casino Royale–maybe two. Daniel Craig is not bad. He’s fine, actually. He’s not playing James Bond– I guess I can’t escape the performances. Eva Green is awful, Mads Mikkelsen is amusingly awful, and Jeffrey Wright is unspeakably bad. It’s a new level of terrible from Wright,…
