Sunday 25 March 2007

Casino Royale (2006 Martin Campbell)

Determined to be different - pre-credits in black and white. Sniper / blood image at end. Graphic design titles (Martin Kleinman). Actually follows (some of) Fleming's plot. 'Bond, James Bond' at end.

Craig excellent (cool but vulnerable). Villain draws on tradition of European actors, Mads Mikkelsen more credible than other villains, but weedy. Didn't even recognise Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis. Paul Haggis had a hand in better-than-usual script. No campy humour, minimum gadgets. Great torture scene. Phil Méheux has come a long way since Out (remembered this after ?30 years). Arnold's score really a John Barry copy. Absolutely amazing standard-setting stunt / chase early scene free-running. It's long, but there's no 'big' set piece final shoot out: a definite plus.

No comments:

Post a Comment