The Culture Beat

I can’t say that I’m a huge James Bond fan. I own only one on dvd: GoldenEye. My favorite Bond girl? Izabella Scorupco from GoldenEye. My favorite villain? Sean Bean as 006, from GoldenEye. The best chase? The tank from GoldenEye. The best storyline? Well, you get the picture. So, even though I wouldn’t describe myself as a huge fan, I’ve seen most of the movies (I just couldn’t take Timothy Dalton more than once) and was looking forward to the new installment with a new James Bond.

And Casino Royale certainly doesn’t disappoint. It has even knocked GoldenEye out of my top spot.

In Casino Royale, the audience is shown the beginnings of James Bond (played by first-timer Daniel Craig), how he got his 00 status, and how he executes his first assignment as a double-0. This assignment is watching a terrorist, which eventually leads to the money behind terrorism. The plot eventually leads to a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale with the head of the terrorist cell, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson). If Bond wins, the terrorist organization will be destroyed from lack of money, and Le Chiffre will most likely be destroyed by those above him. M16 accountant Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) is assigned the task of watching Bond, thereby safeguarding the money. Along the way, Bond and Lynd face various dangers and eventually fall in love.

This film differs quite a bit in tone from previous offerings in the franchise. Bond is less suave, more rough around the edges — true to the beginning of Bond’s status as 00. His anti-authoritarian edge, his “loose cannon” ways, are strongly evident from the beginning in his clashes with M (the always enjoyable Judi Dench). There is less female flesh on display in this movie than in others, but more male. The emphasis is clearly on Bond’s brawn rather than on Q’s gadgets. (The car, though, is still an awesome machine, hence the picture highlighting Bond and the car.) The most notable difference, though, is Bond’s relationship with Vesper Lynd. Yes, I said relationship. James Bond has always been known for his womanizing ways, with his contacts leaning more to one-night-stand status than relationships. Casino Royale, though, shows us how Bond got that way. It’s as though the writers realized that maybe the endless one-night-stands are rather more dysfunctional than ideal. Bond is a man who has been so scarred by the love he shared with Vesper Lynd that the only way to cope in the future is to seal himself off, to deny even the possibility of love.

There was a lot of discussion about whether Daniel Craig could pull off James Bond or not. For one thing, he’s blond, for another he’s shorter than other Bonds have been. (See co-blogger Alex Wainer’s article at Breakpoint for a full discussion.) For my money, Craig is perfect. He pulls off the action sequences with ease, humor, and a good deal of magnetism. And when he puts on a tuxedo, he looks as at home as Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan ever was. I had no trouble believing him as Bond. And while Eva Green may not go down as the biggest name in Bond girls, she had several great scenes and brought more to the character than many other Bond girls were allowed to do.

One more tidbit that made Casino Royale an awesome experience: the Bond theme song. While such notables as Shirley Bassey and Paul McCartney have voiced the Bond theme, lately the songs have run to female pop or alternative voices (e.g., Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Garbage). The rougher James Bond, on the other hand, gets rougher grunge rock music, and it’s a welcome change. Chris Cornell (Audioslave, Sound Garden) bookends the movie with “You Know My Name.” Great choice.

I don’t know, though. The tank may still be my favorite chase.