Movie Reviews: Casino Royale, et al.

So, while my wife was out of town this past weekend, I did my typical stay up late to watch action/sci-fi movies. Atypical was the complete lack of zombie movies. Maybe I'm growing as a person. Maybe I just ran out of time. Anyway, here's what I did watch.

1. Predator. The 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic. I'd seen this few times before so I knew what I was getting--violence, state-of-the-1987-art special effects, delightfully awful one-liners ("Stick Around!" delivered after throwing a knife) all wrapped in a thrilling and fun sci-fi package. I don't know. I was just in the mood for Predator. Really hit the spot.

2. Justice Legue: The New Frontier. Now, I loved the graphic novels on which this movie was based but I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie. Overall, I'd say the movie was so-so. I enjoyed it but it wasn't nearly as good as the books. Granted, the graphic novels were pretty rich in that they contained multiple story lines, spanned decades of time, and delved pretty deeply in to the culture and environment (the cold war, race relations, the space race, etc) of the atomic age. The movie was pretty linear and, with the 75 minute running time, a lot of the details were left out. It wasn't bad but I definitely prefer the books.

3. Casino Royale. Ok, I saved the best for last. I loved this movie. First off, some background. I grew up watching Bond movies and I've always enjoyed them, drawn to their action, cars, gadgets, intrigue, and the sheer over-the-top-ness.

Casino Royale is a huge departure from the previous movies. Oh, it still has some of the Bond staples—the exotic locales, the women, a fabulous car (a proper British Aston Martin [gone are the blasphemous BMWs used in several of the later films]), and it's still over-the-top—but it felt entirely different. It seemed so much more real. Gritty even. The women don’t automatically swoon when Bond appears. The gadgets are realistic. Bond has genuine conflicts with his superiors. Then there’s the Bond character himself. I thought Daniel Craig was terrific. The later, pre-Craig incarnations of Bond seemed almost superhuman to me. You know, above us lowly mortals. Emotionally, there’s a real humanness to the character in Casino Royale. He has flaws. He gets duped. He hurts. He feels. He fails. He succumbs to feelings of revenge. Physically, Craig brings a more believable presence to the screen. As much as liked the previous movies, I always had a hard time believing that some of the later super-suave and super-sophisticated Bonds could have survived an intense fight. Craig looks grizzled and hardened, like he can really bring it.

Now, I still love the previous movies. I just love them for different reasons than the latest movie. And I admit I’m really looking forward to Quantum of Solace when it comes out next month.