11.18.2006

The Shaken Not Stirred Post

Last night I went to Movieco Theaters to catch opening night of the new James Bond flick Casino Royal. Elana and a few of her friends arrived at my place for some pizza and general chilling, and met up with Nathan and Bonnie at the show. The theater was maaaaasive, I’m talking twice the size (and then some) of the biggest screen I’ve ever been too, easy. Simply huge. Plus there were seats galore, which was a relief, as Elana implied that we’d be fighting for seats where all of us could sit together…not the case by a long shot. It was actually kinda dead, which was weird, because the theater is part of this Point Plaza area which has bars, restaurants and all kinds of stores. Seeing it empty was kind of creepy in a ghost town kinda way. If a place existed up in NoVa it would be the hangout spot. But I guess with all the tourist focused features down here, there are a lot more options available.

Anyway the movie:….awesome. I am liking it more and more after the fact to be honest. If you’re a Bond fan you’ll love this movie. If you had doubts about Daniel Craig pulling of Bond (as I did) fear not, he does a perfect 007. Just enough of the classic Bond, without the campy cheese that has plagued the last few. It was refreshing to see the bad guy not wanting to take over the world, or have super powers of some sort, and the Bond-girl this time around was a lot more than just another pretty face for Bond to bone as the credits roll. We get to see Bond molded into the suave spy we know and love from a cocky killer, which is a refreshing take on the character, With slight hints into his past, but no enough for him to lose his mystique. Actions scenes were terrific. All fisty-cuffs and good old fashioned asskicking. Don’t worry, Bond-purists, there are plenty of silenced PP7 take downs and more explosions than you can count too. I was extremely hesitant being that this film didn’t feature Brosnan (my favorite Bond), but the films overall quality, change of pace, and Craig’s performance more than mask that fact. I warn you, the story closes, then there is another ending, and then an obscure ending after that to wrap up lose threds…by the end of the whole ordeal you kinda just want it to finally finish. It’s no A.I. where you’ll actually be bored, but it does seem like they should just speed things up for the last 15 minutes or so.

Anyway, in closing definitely a much needed breath of fresh air into a rotting franchise worthy of praise despite the negative spin put t on by Bond purists. Go see it.

"Now the whole world will know that you died scratching my balls!" -James Bond

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