Movies to look forward to: 007

Oh, yes. Dumb title, looks kick ass. I’m so there.

You must explain. Casino Royale is to Bond as Batman Begins is to Batman, in my eyes. A whole new start.

Well…wait, are you kidding?

Ok, case you’re not, Casino Royale gave the Bond series the kick in the ass it needed and a fresh look at the series, like how Begins did for Batman.

What about Moonraker? That just makes no sense. What are you gonna do, rake rocks? There are no fucking leaves on the moon, you tithead! Right? Right?

I suppose you could always rake the moon dust. You know, like a moon Zen garden.

Recently Sam Mendes big upped the heck out of Christopher Nolan in regard to his upcoming take on Bond:

In terms of what he achieved, specifically The Dark Knight, the second movie, what it achieved, which is something exceptional. It was a game changer for everybody. We’re now in an industry where movies are very small or very big and there’s almost nothing in the middle. And it would be a tragedy if all the serious movies were very small and all the popcorn movies were very big and have nothing to say. And what Nolan proved was that you can make a huge movie that is thrilling and entertaining and has a lot to say about the world we live in, even if, in the case with ‘The Dark Knight,’ it’s not even set in our world. It felt like a movie that was about our world post-9/11 and played on our fears and discussed our fears and why they existed and I thought that was incredibly brave and interesting.

…

That did help give me the confidence to take this movie in directions that, without ‘The Dark Knight,’ might not have been possible. Because also, people go, ‘Wow, that’s pretty dark,’ but then you can point to ‘Dark Knight’ and go ‘Look at that – that’s a darker movie, and it took in a gazillion dollars!’ That’s very helpful. There’s also that thing – it’s clearly possible to make a dark movie that people want to see.

Meanwhile, the second trailer is only 2:00 but it has some extra business in it if extra business is what you require/desire.

So, Bryan and I watched this last night. I then we both liked it quite a bit. I’d give it 3 out of 4 stars.

The Bad

– People are going on and on about how great it is – it’s good, but extremely predictable.
– There are so many bits that seem to use The Dark Knight as a template that it was almost distracting.
– The whole “monologuing” problem is definitely an issue.
– Scenes involving computers are distractingly bad if you know anything about computers

The Good

– Cinematography is top notch – most beautiful looking Bond movie ever. Many shots should be made into posters I can put on my wall.
– Score by Thomas Newman was awesome. He’s one of my favorite composers, so I might actually end up buying it.
– Acting is top notch across the board.
– If you’re a fan of Bond in any of its iterations and actors, this deserves to be seen, as there is plenty to see and enjoy.
– Lots of “movie-boners”

I wouldn’t consider it a bad thing, but there’s almost TOO much winking at the Bond fans. It’s strange that the third Daniel Craig movie is really the intro to his version of the character that the first should have been. I just wish that there were more genuine surprises.