Casino Royale: You know My Name …

Phew; A mid-week movie night … !

And what a movie to have …

As you know, by now, something of a cheap night in for me, Adrian, Paul and/or Allison – and whoever else would care to join us – is catching a film on DVD.

There’s advantages to this over a cinema trip, although that’s nice.

It is cheaper: and those of us who smoke, can of course smoke indoors …

Which is possibly beside the point,

At Any rate, tonight’s film was the 2006 EON Productions version of Casino Royale.

Which is a bit special, to say the least.

For a start?   It has more than a grain of the the original Ian Fleming plotlineº to it.

Considerably more than many other of the Eon movies, from what I’m given to understand.

I should know; it’s one of the few of the Fleming originals I’ve read.

There’s minor updates to the plot: the world has moved on since the late 1950s, when the novel was published*.

But, essentially, what one sees on screen is justified by what’s in the text.

Making this a rare Bond film, sharing that distinction with – to the best of my knowledge – only a few of the earlier entries in the franchise; most notably On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.  

The Bond with the one and only appearance of George Lazenby in the central rôle, in case you’d forgotten.

The other reason I mention the latter, is it does share some similarities, although I feel these may be minimal.   The big one – something I’m sure many will know by now – is that, in both movies, there’s a doomed love interest.   The other worth mentioning, is the look and feel.

Both Casino Royale and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service have a gritty feel to them, although that’s more noticeable with Casino.

A sign of the times, I think, and one that, to me is welcome.   It reminds us of exactly what James Bond is;  a well educated, intelligent, well-educated killer.

Charming, capable of hurt, possessing a tender side.

But a killer, none the less

We tend to forget that, given most Bond movies lighter touches.

But, none the less, Casino Royale is exactly that: a Bond film, one that show us the darker, edgier side to the character, and that strips out the conventional formula parts that we’ve been used to, in order to wind the clock back, and breathe life into the franchise.

Complete with the tradition chases – a fun to watch Freerunning sequence – gadgets – although these are kept to the bare minimum, and there’s no Q to hand them over – and one hell of a car crash.

I can’t believe they did that to a DB12!

And the familiar “My names Bond … James Bond” is used right at the very end.

An ending that left Adrian, Paul, and I wanting to see Quantum of Solace …

* And I should add, since the making of the 1954 TV version, and the 1967 film with David Niven.

º Don’t even ask about The Man With The Golden Gun.   There’s a certain character in the film, who’s definitely NOT in the book …