|
other hand, it’s not all good. Although Bond is my dude, I do have some conflicts & discrepancies with this movie. Let’s start with the “time difference”. This movie was all-out modern, I mean current time period & technologies. I thought we were talking about a prequel. This has no relation to the 1962 release of Dr. No. C’mon now, Sean Connery didn’t use laptops to find information. I didn’t expect a “Turner Classic”, but I did expect some consistency with the term “prequel”. In defense of director Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, The Mask of Zorro, & Vertical Limit), it did have a classic feel too it (probably due to the action scenes & remote locations). And, I really didn’t notice the prequel inconsistencies until after I left the theatre, reflected, and realized… “hey, isn’t that supposed to be BEFORE the original James Bond… what’s with the GPS device?” But trust me, you will be thoroughly entertained.
Speaking of action & locations, 007 movies are known for their action scenes & exotic locations, and this one is no different. The opening scene is smooth, alluring, & will pull you in… then comes the first “real” action scene, where Bond chases a perp across the damn world (at least that’s what it seemed like). I tell you what (think: Hank Hill), I would’ve given up right after I chased him out of the forest. That cat was quick, fierce, & wasted no movement on his escape. Truly a tight scene that will have you out of breath and saying… “DAMN!” (out loud, cause that what I did).
Regarding the locations, there’s the Bahamas, Prague, the UK, & Venice, but my favorite most mind blowing locale didn’t appear till the very end. It was at Lake Como (Italy). They gave you an aerial view of the “Villa La Gaeta”… WHEW!!! (Diddy couldn’t afford this crib… and if he could, he probably couldn’t furnish it-ha!).
The key villain in this edition is “Le Chiffre”, played by Mads Mikkelsen (King Arthur), an international banker/investor and money launderer to terrorist organizations. This is the guy Bond faces in a high-stakes poker match. *(You know you’re BALLIN’ when you tip the dealer with a $500,000 chip… Damn, now that’s poker!)
The femme fatale of the flick is Eva Green (Kingdom of Heaven) in the character of Vesper Lynd. She’s not your normal “Bond Girl”. In my opinion, she wasn’t too stunning, glamorous, or gorgeous and her body wasn’t drop-dead slamming. She was rather plain, on the skinny-side, and her looks were kinda average. I thought to myself, “why did they pick her, ugh” (like many people are thinking of Daniel Craig). But, if you give her a chance, her “plain-ness” adds to the story and logic of the movie (still not feelin’ her though).
Lastly, Judy Dench (Shakespeare In Love) is back as M, the Head of MI6, ...
|
