Mycroft
Posts: 2586
Joined: 30/9/2005
|
Not much I can add really.
I said a while ago that the one thing I hate about Bond films is him strolling into anywhere, immediately revealing his name and blowing the place up. And they actually ackowledged that in the film, that was awesome. There were so many clever little touches, I love how he extracts information the simplest way possible, through people, rather than the gadgets. Finally some actual spying.
Le Chiffe was fantastic, maybe the eye was overblown but that only served to show up how silly past Bond bad-guys have been. I loved how both he and Bond were vulnerable underneath, Le Chiffe containing his desperation under a cold shield till the end, very much a mirror of Bond. Paradoxically the vulnerability made them both look stronger. Very worthy and real villain.
The violence was also handled much better, nowhere near as throwaway. The kills were messy and brutal, but over in an instant. Great change from how cheap it had all become. Much better to show the effects of a few intimate kills than have 100s of faceless people collapse. Bond was also very efficient, no spraying machine guns or unnecessary risk, proper assassin stuff. Loved how they actually thought to hide the bodies too. It mostly feels like real intelligence officers could do this.
Craig would have been fantastic anyway, but the script demanded a much wider range than usual and he pulled it all off completely. Its the script thats elevated this, really want to know how much of a hand Haggis had in this. Its very clever before the dialogue, add some sizzling scenes on top and it was superb. Campbell also elevated his game much higher, he made it sort of Bourne like in alot of ways without falling for the visual style, its a confident and not too showy approach. Perfectly rounded Bond, acknowledging past criticisms and blasting them without being too self-concious about it. Great charisma and presence, Craigs a perfect blend of smooth sophisticate and thug, buckets of predatorial confidence and magnetism, best of Connery, Dalton, Brosnan and even Moore with very little downside, he feels dangerous to know and thats very appealing. The comedy was perfectly integrated into the story and character rather than being bolted in.
Loved it, hope they can keep this up now that Bond is becoming more confident and cold. After Goldeneye they lost that promise with Brosnan. Even if they lose the path somewhat with the writing, Craig's talents will remind them not to become complacent I'm sure.
Pacing was a slight problem but all of it was quality so nevermind, the thing that really made it apart from completely the right approach was the extended character moments. You could have taken away all the excellent action and the film would have been almost as good, the casino section was long but completely held everyone in the audience, to greater success than the action even,
For some Craig seemed like a big gamble but with what they were aiming for he was the only real choice. Very happy with it
< Message edited by Mycroft -- 18/11/2006 12:22:21 AM >
|
Printable Version
007 Is Back! - 
(which is stupid cause i figure he was always at his best well aside "For Your Eyes Only" and "Die Another Day"). Where do i begin: classic 15 mins at the start leading into the film where bonds gets his 00s ohh "Considerably". Only the opening credits let this masterpiece down (even comparing it to dr.nos opening credits which were just plain and simple back then these credits are extremely horrible). 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread