There was a pretty damn awesome scene in the movie “Lucky Number Slevin” where Lucy Liu’s and Josh Hartnet’s characters are having a discussion about who the best Bond was. They tease each other saying every name other than Connery. The joke lies in the fact that everyone knowns Connery was the best Bond. It’s knowledge inherent from birth. So much so that when the short lived X Show had a review of the Bonds they said something to the effect that “There’s no point is saying who the best Bond is, instead we’ll ask who the second best Bond is.” Everyone everywhere knows Connery was the best Bond. (With the possible exception of the 1983 movie.) The movies might not have held up well over time but it’s plain to anyone that he was clearly the best at it.
I tell you this not to state what you already know, I tell you this so that when you read what I have to say next you will understand it’s full meaning. Daniel Craig is Bond. I saw Casino Royale this weekend and from the second the movie starts off, all the way from black and white opening (with the old school Columbia opening, which was a nice touch.) all the way to the very last syllable of the movie Craig manages to accomplish the seemingly impossible, he bests Connery in every way imaginable. There is a charm to the character that has been lacking for nearly 40 years; women want him and men want to be him. The lines were so effortlessly cool that I spent half the time wishing I was able to come up with shit that awesome in day to day life. And not in that smarmy almost repugnant way that has been the status quo in the franchise for long before I was ever born.
There is an added depth to the character that hasn’t been seen anywhere previous to this. (at least on screen, I’ve never read the books.) There’s no way I can really expand upon that further without ruining some of story so I won’t. Just wait until the shower scene to find out what I mean. (Trust me, it’s not what it sounds like exactly.)
The deaths in the movie are visceral to a degree we haven’t seen in a Bond movie before. Actually everything is grittier, somehow more real. Sure this isn’t the way a spy would actually act, but it still feels so very real.
Despite all of the praise I have for the movie I want to make something perfectly clear. While it is by far the best Bond film, it isn’t the greatest film ever. I’m not sure it will make my list of desert island movies but I do think it would be close and largely depend on whether I’m allowed 5, 10, or 15 movies. I don’t want to hype it so much that by the time your expectations are heightened to the point where the movie can’t be satisfying. I also understand that more than a few people are going to disagree with me, especially on the statement that Craig is better than Connery. My brother’s roommate has said to me “Early Connery, Craig, Later Connery, Dalton, Brosnan, Moore, Lazenby, Nelson, Niven in that order.“ which is interesting because means of the 3 people that read this there’s already one that disagrees with me before I even wrote this. So I’m not telling you “This is the way it is.” I’m telling you that by god you must go see it, even if you’ve never seen a Bond film in your life you owe it to yourself to see this movie.
On another note I was curious to see how the new Sam & Max game played and after exploring Telltale’s website for a bit I discovered that low and behold, they had a demo. The demo was short but I laughed so many times and so hard I actually had to stop and tried to think when the last time was a game made me do that. (Turns out the last time I laughed at the computer because of a video game was Psychonauts, but even then it wasn’t as many laughs per minute as I did when playing Sam & Max.) The several minutes managed to make just about every memory I have of early childhood playing the original flood back. (That’s right early childhood playing the CD version. If I made you feel old then good. At least I still know what a records and cassettes are.)So that’s is Telltale, product sold, here’s my $35 sign me up for season and give me a CD at the end. Expect a full review when I get around to actually finding the time to play it. (Which I suspect will be after Thanksgiving.)
On a somewhat related note if anyone is looking for to buy me a present for Christmas but just doesn’t know what to get me there’s always the Sam & Max Sketchbook and/or the Sam & Max Poster Prints. The sketchbook is the sort of thing I’d love to own but don’t know if I can buy now because I’m going to go poor buying other people crap. The supplies are supposed to be limited so I might buckle and get it for myself once I figure out who is getting what and how much this what will cost. The prints are the kind of thing I would love to hang on the wall but find superfluous enough that I’ll leave the tab with them in it open in Firefox forever and never actually get around to buying. This is exactly why they would make perfect presents. Is that enough whoring for now? Yeah I think maybe it is.
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