The greatest Bond film/The ultimate Bond

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2006)

James Bond like Batman, Superman and Spiderman is without a doubt a cinematic icon. Unlike the aforementioned, he was not created as a cartoon, inhabiting a fairytale world of monsters and competing super heroes. Rather, Bond was a creation of post world war 2 and (then)present day cold war tensions. Cold and cunning a government sanctioned killing machine, Bond would ply his rough trade in a world where love was a scar, trust a deadly mistake and violence as much a reward as a hazard of that trade.
Some measure of Fleming's character was inhabited by Sean Connery and until now the measure of all the Bonds who would follow. For myself and untold millions of others, the early films i.e. "Goldfinger", "From Russia With Love", "Diamonds Are Forever" "The Spy Who Loved Me", were able to catch that special cinematic magic that allowed these films to transcend their potboiler like genre trappings and become etched in memory. As for most of the Moore and other Pretender Bonds, I for one haven't seen a Bond film from start to finish since "Moonraker".
"Casino Royale" left me with the same feeling as that which I was left with after seeing "Goldfinger" for the first time 40 years ago. James Bond, the world's greatest spy, transcending time and no less than seven other Bonds(only one of whom was more than a pretender), has been reborn, not as an heir to Connery but as the embodiment of Fleming's hard as nails creation. If there is any doubt as to this fact, the much talked about torture scene should dispel any comparisons with any other Bond. Daniel Craig has taken an icon which had been turned into a cartoon, re-invented him and created a character that is as much his own as it is Fleming's and yet remains Bond to his audience. Isn't this what great acting is? Isn't this what should be revered and awarded? Certainly there must be more to acting than a marquee role in a cheesy soap opera.
During Craig's torture scene I was reminded of De Niro in his great Russian roulette scene in "Deer Hunter". In addition to the action sequences there is a poignant love story (the great interaction between Craig and Eva Green could only have been realized with fine acting and writing)which is more than can be said for most of the blockbuster trash being passed off as tear jerker's. Again, there are several magnificent scenes requiring "Great Acting" i.e. the shower scene and the "revelation" in one of the final scenes. Sure, a touching revelation in a love story is nothing new, but in this film's context and the poignant "acceptance" by Bond/Craig it is truly something special. The score by David Arnold is pure John Barry and better for it(does anybody miss Barry like I do?)
There are several wrong turns which made the film an 8 rather than a 9 or 10. The opening title song was horrid (Chris Cornell), "Black Hole Sun" would have had more impact. Judy Dench(is there a more overrated actress?) her "What the hell is he up to?" line still makes the hair on my neck stand up. I watched Helen Mirren's final "Prime Suspect" last night and can't help but wonder what she could have done with a better written role for "M" in her Jane Tenneysen mode (think of the sexual tension she and Bond would have generated). Bond's ability to spot anyone, anywhere in any crowd was a bit of a throwback to the clownishness of Moore/Brosnan but the crowd that made their films a mint need a bone too. Beyond those quibbles, this is the greatest Bond film and Craig is the ultimate Bond. "James Bond will be back" and I for one can't wait.