Casino Royale – The Fellowship of the 00

Almost everyone who knows me knows what a big James Bond fan I am. Back in high school, before the days of DVD’s and E-Bay, I made it my quest to possess all of the James Bond movies – even the really bad ones. I actually spend close to $50 to get my hands on a VHS copy of the original Casino Royale. It was the coup de gras for my collection, and although it’s a comedy, it doesn’t really fit well into the James Bond universe, I really enjoyed it.
I’m not quite sure how to describe my feelings on the new Casino Royale. For me, lots of times movies are like girlfriends. The closer they come to being “the one,” the uglier the breakup. Potential ends up counting against you in the end.
If you read my writing partner,Scott’s review at http://www.twojacksinthehole.com/, I think he was a little harsh. I don’t see how someone who more than likely has never seen a James Bond movie from start to finish can say that this one has “lost” something. Let alone to say it’s lost its mystique. I also think that Scott’s prior work in the poker industry led him to be a little more harsh on the movie’s poker scenes than are really necessary.
Daniel Craig is excellent. And anyone who has a problem with how he played it, or the classic Bond maneuvers that he didn’t pull has to keep in mind that in the Bond universe – this is James’ first mission ever. The only thing he really seems to nail down is the fact that he likes dry vodka martinis. Sure he’s a bit angry, and sure he only has sex with one woman, and yes he drives a Ford, but if you know anything about James Bond (as is mentioned in the movie), you know he’s an orphan. The refined tastes, the debonair _style_, and especially the sense of detachment are all things Bond is likely to develop later on.
So why exactly does the seemingly storybook romance fall apart between me and Casino Royale? It just didn’t feel like a whole movie to me. For the first two hours, I was literally jumping out of my seat. I loved Bond. I loved Vesper (the dame). I loved the bombmaker. I loved M. I loved the Bahamas. I loved the gas truck. I loved the Casino Royale. And I loved the poker scene - until the credits rolled. That’s when I realized that the poker scene was supposed to be the climax of the entire movie.
Would I have liked the climax of the movie to have taken place on a giant space station/satellite/volcanic laboratory/terrorist cave? Absolutely. Was it absolutely necessary? Definitely not. What is not acceptable, however, is for James Bond to defeat the villain from getting lucky at cards. What followed after that scene was a) a lame chase b) a cool interrogation and then c) some weird Vetrigo shit that had me wondering what in the balls was going on. Fifteen minutes later or so, the movie got back on track with a great scene in Venice and then bpppppt – done. Movie’s over.
It’s exactly how I felt at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. I felt used. And cheated. “Where is the rest of this movie? That’s not an ending. Nothing even happened!!!”
When I complained about the Fellowship, my friend defended it by saying “It’s not the end of the movie.” My answer was “If I am forced to leave the theatre, the movie is over.” Since James Bond is a continuing character, one could say the same thing of him. However, I didn’t let the Lord of the Rings get away with it, and I’m not going to let James Bond get away with it. The movie, in its current form, should have been at least another hour long. “Bond. James Bond.” is not a closing line!
In the end, the movie’s tremendous potential ended up ruining it for me, big time. Great premise. Great actors. Great writing. Great action (when it occurred). Horrible pacing. Horrible stortytelling. I cannot imagine anyone being satisfied by an ending like that (where the main character doesn’t kill the badguys himself, gets duped, and gets dumped) whether in a James Bond movie or otherwise.
I’m going to have to give Casino Royale the same treatment I gave LOTR. I’m going to say for now, that I pretty much hated this movie, but it’s not going to stop me from buying it when it comes out on DVD, and seeing the rest of them.
Just like the passion that ends in bitter breakups with the women in my life, the movies aren’t much different. The reason I hate you is because I loved you so much in the first place. Who knows? If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Maybe, in the future, when the sequels come out, we’ll realize we both made a big mistake. So in the meantime, I’m still going to buy you and put you on the shelf, because I love you, and I’ll take care of you better than anyone else. Because I love you James Bond. I am going to buy you because I love you. And I think that maybe when you grow up, and mature a little – maybe then we can really be together. Also, I reserve the right to possibly go see you on a long weekend and have crazy sex with you.