Aris Thomas

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Very low grade movie. About 5 minutes into the film we already know what it is about and we know what is going to happen in the end. It is so predictable. We know it is about defending the interceptor base, and not leaving the US open to attack, and that in the end JJ will stop it all at the very last second. I would like to start off by commenting on one of the scenes at the start. There is a fight where sulfuric acid gets spilled onto the floor and it is green. Sulfuric acid is not green for your information, it is actually colourless in most cases. So, Kessel manages to intercept the room. Not surprised there. And Baker is a traitor. Not surprising either. When JJ manages to kick all of them out she then has a catfight with Kira, which I also predicted. So, Kessel and the rest of his team get locked outside again, and after they cannot convince JJ to open the door, they decide to sink the whole base. Rahul goes and tries to manually shut the valves, but is killed halfway through by baker. And why? Because Kessel knew about it having overheard the conversation. What's so stupid is how JJ tapes the window between her and Kessel and shuts off the communication only after Rahul is dead and the place is continuing to sink. Maybe had JJ just shut off the communication and taped the window BEFORE Rahul had gone down then Rahul would have stopped the place from sinking and Kessel wouldn't have been any the wiser. But no. Now JJ is stranded on a sinking vessel in a room trying to stop a megalomaniac from coming in. So, her second plan is to lead them into the room has to go through all the trouble of setting up the computer on the roof, and killing Baker and then climbing all the way back up. All of this could have been avoided had she just taped the door and closed the communication before Rahul went to close the valves, but I guess this is one of the movies where the climax takes place due the the complete lack of common sense from the main character. Not only that, but the climbing up to the roof again from the sea with just one arm, and then doing the monkey bars with just one arm is just so unrealistic and cringeworthy. No one could do one handed monkey bars like that. It did not look even remotely convincing. And then what. She finally arrives at the very last second and launches the missiles. How typical and predictable.

In my opinion Casino Royale is a complete joke of a book. The Bond we all know of is not portrayed here at all. In this novel, he goes to the hotel, wins the game with Le Chiffre, gets tortured, and then spends time afterwards with Vesper before she kills herself. The plot is incredibly boring, and now I can see exactly why the films afterwards based on Casino Royale are so different, more exciting, and finally more complicated. For example, in the movie with Daniel Craig made in 2006, the card game is there, along with the torture, and Vesper working for the other side, but you also have Bond earning his 007 status by killing Dryden, as well as him foiling several terrorist plots, including the bombing of the Skyliner. I remember reading the book, constantly having faith that something exciting would happen. But does it happen? The only thing physical Bond does is throwing himself out of a chair when someone tries to shoot him. And the only bit of fighting he does is kicking someone in the shins. In a nutshell, this Bond character created by Ian Fleming is not a cool spy or action hero at all. It is true that the books get a lot more interesting, complicated and action packed after this, and in fact, the one I am reading now is very good (that is Dr No). However, there are serious criticisms to be made. Fleming’s style of writing in his books just doesn’t grip me enough. He over-elaborates and describes unimportant details, such as the pattern on Bond’s cigarette packet, and less time describing important things. We don’t actually get a proper description of Bond’s physical appearance in Casino Royale. The use of racist and sexist language is off the scale and unacceptable. I understand that these books were written during a period when racism and sexism were more common, but that still doesn’t justify the constant use of such language. I would mention several examples of this, but there are just so many and I could never bring myself to type of even mention such words. In addition, some of the things that are written are incredibly unrealistic. In Live and Let Die, Bond drinks and smokes all the time, and yet after only a week of swimming and training in the sun, he is suddenly as fit as Bear Grylls. When we consider how hard people have to work and change their habits over long time periods to become fit, this training routine of Bond’s does not sound convincing. Moreover, James Bond is supposed to have been trained in combat, yet he sometimes fights like someone who is not trained. When he defeats a henchman, or gets out of a sticky situation, it is usually because he is lucky rather than effective. For example, in From Russia with Love, during the fight on the train, Bond would have lost if it had been a fair fight. Bond comes across as a racist and misogynistic loser in these books. He gets in trouble easily, and it is mainly through luck that he survives. I do get that a bit of luck is required in such situations, but it seems as though Bond relies on it too much. That being said, I am only on the sixth book and they are getting better, both in complexity and excitement. I have no doubt that the Bond character will develop and become more interesting, but that does not mean that I enjoy this style of writing, or even remotely like Casino Royale. There is nothing good at all about that specific book. The only purpose it does serve is if you are struggling to get to sleep (only one page is required). If you want to know how bad it is, read it. Otherwise, don’t bother. The only reason I gave 1 star is because there was no option for 0.