Edge of Darkness (2010)

I’ve harped on before about how I think the purest way to see a film is to know nothing about it at all beforehand, to go in with a tabula rasa as it were.  In this way one takes no preconceptions or prejudices with them and so the movie is completely fresh; such was the case for me and Edge of Darkness.  Directed by Martin Campbell (better known for Goldeneye, Casino Royale and Green Lantern), Edge of Darkness is a tale of investigation and revenge based on a 1985 BBC mini-series directed by, well, actually directed by Martin Campbell!  Now, I’ve not seen the 1985 series of the same name so I can’t make unfavourable comparisons; though it does strike me as surprising that for the movie version the story was moved from Yorkshire to Boston.  Though after a little digging this is probably because despite it being a BBC film it was funded to an extent by Mel Gibson’s production company Icon Productions.

So naturally, it stars Mel Gibson in the main role: Thomas Craven, a Boston police detective, whose daughter Emma is brutally gunned down on his front porch (not a spoiler, it happens in the first 5 minutes).  The story is then about Tom finding out why Emma was killed and finding those responsible.  Gibson is good, being at the same time suitably down-beaten but also having that gritty determination that a detective would have.  I’ve not seen Payback, but I’m imagining a similar role, though the emphasis here is probably more on the investigation as to why his daughter was murdered than rather out and out revenge.  Danny Huston makes an appearance as the head of the Northwood research facility in his usual rent-a-creep way; not to belittle his performance at all, he is after all usually very good.  Completing the famous names is Ray Winstone as an enigmatic British agent whose role is intentionally ambiguous, demonstrating that Emma’s death is part of a far larger conspiracy.

Technically I didn’t think Edge of Darkness did anything fancy.  It’s not just a point and shoot movie though, it is made with enough craft to enjoy watching, but it’s not as accomplished as Casino Royale or as cumbersome as Green Lantern.  The music, composed by Howard Shore was suitably mysterious and tense, but largely atmospheric rather than bold and thematic.  Overall, I found Edge of Darkness to be very watchable with enough intrigue and acting talent on show to make it a worthwhile way to spend an evening. But, well, you know, that’s just, like, er, my opinion, man.

Casino Royale (2006)

I have reviewed Casino Royale before, but I felt that re-posting it would be a bit of a cop out for Blogalongabond; and since that review was a lot of synopsis I really had to write another one. Also, of course now I have my wealth of Blogalongabond knowledge to say more! *cough*

Where there were precious redeeming features in DAD, there are few things wrong with Casino Royale. The violence is bone-crunching, Daniel Craig and Mads Mikkelsen are superb, the plot doesn’t pander to the lowest common denominator and David Arnold’s music is again wonderful. In Daniel Craig the producers seem to have once again found someone who can act rather than just “do” Bond; in particular Craig’s scenes with Judi Dench and Eva Green bristle with wit and tension. Danish-born Mads Mikkelsen is brilliant as Le Chiffre, the gambling, knotted rope-wielding baddie. Rather than having any designs on world domination Le Chiffre is actually on the back foot for half of the film, trying to win his money back; and I think that this role-reversal (almost) makes the story all the more interesting.

The first 30 minutes of the film are absolutely brilliant, and some of the best of the entire series. The pre-credits scene depicting James Bond’s (no 00 yet) first two kills is sublime; the clinical straight lines of the office building in Prague clashing with the high-contrast gritty bathroom and the very messy scrap. Added to this is a moment of inspiration using the bathroom as the backdrop for the famous gun-barrel shot.

Straight into some of the coolest credits of the series and a great song by a man with such an ace voice; I’ve been a fan of Soundgarden and Audioslave for years, probably because I think Chris Cornell’s voice is brilliant. The title of the song is perfect too: “You Know my Name”. After a four year break and a change of Bond we don’t have it shoved in our faces - we know who he is, we know what he’s about and we know his name; very apt that the James Bond theme isn’t played until the final scene. Following the theme song there is a spectacular chase in Madagascar as Bond pursues a free-running bomb-maker through a building site; all of which is just amazing.

The only disappointment (other than the frankly baffling way that having directed this clever and sophisticated film, Martin Campbell goes on to direct the confusing, over-blown and frankly boring Green Lantern), is the sound. I don’t ever remember it when I saw Casino Royale in the cinema, but the three other times I’ve seen it (two different DVDs and on a plane) the sound keeps getting suddenly quiet, particularly in action scenes. A quick google tells me I am not alone in this, and that is terribly disappointing; it really spoils what is otherwise an excellent film.

Stunning set pieces, a very smart script/screenplay by Crash director Paul Haggis, excellent performances by the three main actors as well as a wealth of supporting cast make Casino Royale one of the best films in the series.

Order of Preference so far:

Casino Royale, You Only Live Twice, Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, Tomorrow Never Dies, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Goldeneye, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia with Love, Dr No, The World is Not Enough, The Man with the Golden Gun, Die Another Day, A View to a Kill, Octopussy, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, Thunderball

Goldeneye (1995)

Despite the Berlin Wall coming down 6 years previous, and the end of the cold war, the intro credits leave us in no doubt that it is a traditional foe who are the enemy here. What is surprising is that Bono and The Edge wrote the title song, performed with typical gusto by Tina Turner. No Shirley Bassey, but far better than the 80s cheesefest that was Gladys Knight’s Licence to Kill.

The film’s opening scenes are all pretty dramatic; 007 bungee jumps down a dam, 006 is callously shot in the head, and then Bond drives a motorbike off a cliff to escape in a nose-diving plane. It’s a fair statement of intent for the series now featuring many new faces both in front and behind the camera. Pierce Brosnan is the most obvious newbie; and after the hard-hitting Dalton performances, Brosnan’s Bond is more of a return to the suave Sean Connery days. However, when Brosnan tries too hard to be suave, I think he often comes across as arrogant. No doubt that 007 is arrogant, but Brosnan’s Bond almost has an arrogant arrogance!

Judi Dench is making sure she carves her own M, and during her brief screen time is very hard-nosed. Introduced as an accountant (I’m not actually sure what the ideal qualifications would be to direct MI6) she does have great banter with 007. I thought it interesting that following Licence To Kill, M specifically tells 007 not to go off on a personal vendetta to avenge the death of 006. I guess this is as close as we get to continuity of stories from film to film, other than the same actors recurring as different characters, or the occasional nod to the fact that Bond was married once.

Sean Bean is, well, Sean Bean; but he is good as long as he’s not trying to do a plummy accent. Of course his “death” at the beginning sets alarm bells ringing, and within the first 5 minutes of the film we know there will be a reveal later on showing him as the villain of the piece. It is Sean that has the best line in the film “I might as well ask if all the vodka martinis ever silenced the screams of all the men you killed; or if you find forgiveness in the arms of all those willing women, for all the dead ones you failed to protect.” Ouch baby!

In fact 007 comes in for quite a few reality checks. Alec (Sean's character) also refers to him as “Her Majesty’s loyal terrier” (good dog), and M calls him a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur!" Then Natalya tells him that being a hero and being so cold is what keeps him alone. Brosnan can’t portray his emotion the same way that Dalton could, but he has to deal with a lot of criticism of his character here.

Famke Janssen is a pretty good henchwoman. OK, she has a fairly ludicrous name, and an over-the-top way of dispatching people(!); but I liked her Zorin-like glee in the way she killed people. Now here’s a nugget of information that has been lodged in my brain for years. The woman who stunt-doubled Famke was Eunice Huthart, and I remember that she was a champion of Gladiators! Yes, that! For some reason I must have caught the show when she returned as a champion or something, and she mentioned how she’d had to wrap her legs around Pierce Brosnan! Now I’ve told that story maybe I can mercifully forget it!

In term of action, there are some pretty impressive set pieces. The first is the stunt at the beginning involving the bungee jump (at the time the world’s highest from a fixed position) and 007 launching himself off a cliff on a motorbike so that he can freefall and climb into a crashing plane. The other spectacular scene is 007 tearing up St Petersburg with a tank. With a budget over twice that of any other Bond film (presumably not inflation-adjusted) the sets that the tank charges through are tremendous, if indeed lacking some mortar.

Director Martin Campbell successfully managed to take 007 in a new direction. By concentrating on the story Goldeneye is a solid entry into the franchise. Indeed Campbell focuses on the plot so much that there are noticeable swathes of the film without 007 at all. When he does appear, Brosnan’s Bond is very committed and really looks like he cares about finding the Golden McGuffin. At the same time the writers are trying to keep the edge to Bond that characterised the previous two films, by slagging him off a few times and giving in him a slap in the face by having someone he considered a friend to be a two-faced megalomaniac. Let’s see where Brosnan’s hunted 007 goes from here.

Order of Preference so far:

You Only Live Twice, Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Goldeneye, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia with Love,  Dr No, The Man with the Golden Gun, A View to a Kill, Octopussy, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, Thunderball

Casino Royale

Now before I start, I should state that I think of course Sean Connery was the best Bond. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy any of the other Bonds; even of late I enjoyed Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. However, after the terribleness that was Die Another Day, with some shocking cg, an instantly forgettable theme tune and plot, the world was crying out for Daniel Craig and Casino Royale. Well, I was anyway.

The plot is based around baddie Le Chiffre, a stock market player for the evil and corrupt. He invests money in an airline stock so that when the shares crash (he plans to blow the brand new flagship plane up to guarantee this) he will make a killing. However, when 007 prevents the plane from blowing up, Le Chiffre is $150m out of pocket. He plans to win this back in a high stakes poker game in Casino Royale in Montenegro. Of course Bond is financed by HM government to play in the game and wins all of the money.

Behind the scenes, everything is contrived by a criminal "Organisation", this is all we know it as. So when Le Chiffre kidnaps bond and his female accomplice (Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green), after some pretty brutal torture, Mr White from the Organisation turns up and kills Le Chiffre, allowing Bond and Vesper to go free. However, as 007 and Vesper fall in love, we find out that the Organisation had previously contacted Vesper and her boyfriend, and the only way the boyfriend will be left alone is if Vesper was planted with Bond with a view to acquiring the poker winnings (I think, all very confusing!).

Anyway, James finds Vesper withdrawing all of the money from the winnings, and this leads to a final shootout in Venice wherein Vesper drowns. But before her death, she did leave a message on her phone to James, giving him the name Mr White and a phone number. The film ends with 007 tracking down Mr White, and saying his name is Bond, James Bond! Quantum of Solace follows on directly from here.

I really do think this is a cracking film. A very gritty begining showing Bond's first kill. Great title sequence with a great song from the man with and incredible voice: Chris Cornell. A tremendous action sequence at the beginning as 007 tries to keep up with a free-running gun-for-hire bomb-maker. A very nicely set up poker game, with enough intrigue in between hands, so we are not just watching a game of cards for 30 mins; and a very interesting plot, not your usual baddie looking for domination over something (world/media/oil).



Gone are all the gadgets, and instead 007 has to think on his feet a lot more; this is a reflection of the popularity of the Bourne series I think. I did like the gadgets (especially in the Sean Connery era), but I think the franchise ended up relying on them too much; on the feet thinking led to a much more fluid story, rather than one that was contrived around some fancy piece of tech. There are a few moments of more familiar bond: telling Vesper that her cover name is Stephanie Broadchest.

Judi Dench is still great as M, being initially indignant at Bond for finding out where she lived, her login for the MI6 network, and her name! But later she is more encouraging, and positively gets behind him in the next film. Daniel Craig as Bond I think is great. He has a roughness to him that a man who will do anything to get the job done should have. He also plays the arrogance part of the character well, as well as managing to be smooth enough when he has to be. I know some people think it's silly to have a blonde haired, blue eyed James Bond, but I don't care, why should it matter? And anyway, Daniel Craig is from the same city as me. Imagine that, I was born in the same city as James Bond! How cool is that?!