Rating of
4/4
One of the Best 007 Films
Franz Patrick - wrote on 11/20/08
I outright disagree that Sean Connery is, and always will be, the best James Bond. We have a new 21st century James Bond now–Daniel Craig–and I happen to believe he is the best James Bond… at least, so far. What I love about this film is that it resets the franchise story-wise but manages to keep all the components from the past Bond films that made it into a phenomenon. Craig’s icy-cold blue gaze mixed with genuine humanity and heart creates a character who is both lethal but someone that the audiences can root for. This is highlighted during the scenes where there’s no dialogue; we are left to stare into Craig’s eyes and observe his body language to provide us what his character is thinking and feeling. There are other outstanding performances. Judi Dench as M is complete magic. There’s something about her demeanor that I find very cold so I know right away that she possesses a lot of power. To be honest, she scares me more than Bond. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd came a long way since I saw her in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers” (one of those films back in high school that made me fall in love with the cinema). In here, Green is sophisticated, eloquent, and beyond ravishing. Green and Craig have chemistry together. When Bond and Lynd interact, especially in the amusing and engaging train scene, one can understand why they fell in love. Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre gave me the creeps because one of his eyes emits tears of blood. If that doesn’t spell menace, I don’t know what does. Lastly, I really loved Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter even though he didn’t have much screen time. After watching him in “Angels in America,” I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. He brings subtlety and strength into his characters and thus elevating the scenes he’s in to another level. Martin Campbell’s (”GoldenEye”) direction is effective because he successfully shows his audiences how Bond grows as an agent via his experiences in the field and as a damaged human being. This isn’t your campy, cheesy, early James Bond films. This is a pure adrenaline action-thriller with astute dialogues that deserves comparison to future Bond pictures. To match this installment’s greatness is definitely going to be a challenging task considering they pretty much got everything right on this one. If you were to bet on which installment is one of the best 007 films, put your money on “Casino Royale.”
