One more time Daniel Craig as 007. Again, Ralph Fiennes as M.
The Blond Bond begins to show grey hair, but one surprisingly strong character turns out to be Q (Ben Whishaw again), who suddenly appears in the field rather than solely remain in the HQ.
What I liked about Spectre – it nicely circles back to the original Casino Royale, to Quantum of Solace and to Skyfall – paying tribute to Craig’s previous Bond movies. It does more than that as – one attentive viewer may note – there are subtle nods to Casablanca, and previous James Bond films.
Amazingly shot, beautifully edited, with breathtaking racing scenes and charming Bond, as ever, with devilishly blue eyes and soft heart, as ever.
Great dialogues too, full of irony, double entendres and class. Slightly more is served on a silver plate, sligthly less is left for interpretation. Good one Mr. Mendes. I sincerely hope this is not the last time for Daniel Craig as Bond.
Tag Archives: daniel craig
Spectre by Sam Mendes (2015) – the new James Bond movie
Filed under 2015 cinema releases
Layer Cake by Matthew Vaughn (2004)
Daniel Craig is an unnamed character at his most magnetic best. He plays a drug dealer on his last job before ‘retirement’. How many times have we seen this in cinema. One last bank robbery, one last deal, and then the protagonist will live happily ever after. How often does the last job go right? And how often does it go wrong? Exactly.
In agreement with the gangster movie genre, nothing goes right and everything goes wrong. As this scheme is the mainstream of the British cinema (I will hesitate to call it indie given the astronomic budget of £3m), Layer Cake gets served exceptionally fresh as compared to other films of the era.
The cinematography by Ben Davis is worth a special mention. It is not only phenomenally well put together – it is also creatively different and therefore a true feast to the eyes.
It was thanks to this role that Craig got into the competition for the next James Bond. And how accurately so. This film could work quite well as the prequel to Casino Royale, as the intro to who Bond could have been before he started to work for MI6, before he got his licence to kill.
Watching this film almost a decade after it has been made, after having seen Craig’s Bond in three episodes, it looks as if James Bond was his destiny. It is an incredibly fun thing to watch Craig as a character who hates guns, who does his first kill, who learns the tricks of outwitting his opponents. In a way he becomes a perfect gangster, who is smart enough to quit when he has mastered all there is to acquire in the business.
Costume designer (Stephanie Collie) did a huge favour to Daniel Craig. He should be grateful.
Yet again this is one more of the few (very few) films I have seen that has a voiceover I do not oppose against. I specifically like the last line of Craig’s character (XXXX – as per final credits) uttering what will later become the cult “My name’s Bond, James Bond.” At the end of the film he says: “My name? If you knew that, you’d be as clever as me.”
Filed under film reviews
Road to Perdition by Sam Mendes
In my own personal ‘Catching Up’ section.
There is no protagonist. Only the antagonists. Played by actors who normally only play the protagonists. Therefore you get an orchestra of stars playing against their emploi. These include Daniel Craig, Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law.
Set in 1930’s marked by prohibition in America. Hence the blooming mafia and family businesses.
The only crack is the happy ending.
Filed under Catching Up, film reviews
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by David Fincher
Mr Fincher, you are a genius.
Your version of the book adaptation is infinitely better than the Swedish one.
I am a fan of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy and have obviously watched all three Swedish episodes of the Millennium trilogy.
That you have selected Daniel Craig to be Mikael Blomkvist was one of the greatest ideas! That you have decided to create proper old school intro to the film, which in itself is a piece of art – a thrilling combination of Bond films intros with Matrix, that you have braved the length of 158minutes, that you have gone so bold – for all that, you deserve a big applause.
I cannot wait the next two parts. Good Luck!
Filed under 2011 cinema releases, film reviews