Spectre

Review by Matt Finley

Even as a casual 007 fan, I know that every James Bond film is going to engage with, or, at the very least, be reflective of, three things: current action movie trends, looming cultural anxieties, and, of course, the decades-spanning mythology of Bond himself – his women, gadgets, cars, co-workers, cocktails, and license to kill.

By virtue of that latter list – an easy inventory of all tropes Bond – SPECTRE delivers. And then some. If Director Sam Mendes’ first 007 outing, the miraculous SKYFALL, was like the best box o’ donut holes you can buy at your local bakery, his follow-up is the Sam Club’s version,  bulky and excessive, bumping around inside inferior packaging… but still un-put-downably delicious.

SPECTRE begins with 007 (Daniel Craig) secretly pursuing a posthumous tip from the former M, leading him to a mysterious ring bearing the titular terrorist group’s cephalopodic logo and a single chance to infiltrate the shadowy collective.

Casino Royale (1967) (April 6th at the CWRU Film Society at Strosacker Auditorium)

[CASINO ROYALE screens Saturday April 6th at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm at the CWRU Film Society at Strosacker Auditorioum.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

 

Unless their schedule is seriously in error (and it does happen, damn college students), the Case Western-Reserve University Film Society is pairing the campus showing of the latest James Bond masterpiece, 2012's SKYFALL, this weekend, with a revival of CASINO ROYALE - no, not the critically overpraised 2006 CASINO ROYALE that relaunched the franchise, with Daniel Craig as a tough, realistic Bond, true to the hardboiled prose of Ian Fleming. The CWRU crowd have instead (I hope) impishly programmed the CASINO ROYALE from 1967 - a daffy spoof serious Bond buffs would wish could disappear, like Lucasfans hope could happen to Jar Jar Binks. No kidding, this notorious camp makes the Roger Moore MOONRAKER look like TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY.

Skyfall

Review by Pete Roche

Everyone has a favorite 007 actor and film, but James Bond movies are typically only as good as their villains (Stavro Blofeld, Karl Stromberg, Max Zorin), henchmen (Jaws, Nick Nack, Odd Job), and incendiary set pieces.  If a film’s bad guy isn’t memorable (DIE ANOTHER DAY) or the action in the climax doesn’t match or surpass the excitement of its pre-title gambit (GOLDENEYE), then it’s probably regarded a mediocre entry in the half-century old franchise.

SKYFALL boasts a delicious villain in Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), but there aren’t any other distinguishable thugs. And its dénouement pales to its pulse-pumping opening sequence, which has Bond race a motorcycle over rooftops in Turkey before brawling on a speeding train.  There are two remarkable hand-to-hand fights—including a snazzy-looking fisticuffs silhouetted against a neon skyline, but neither pits Bond (Daniel Craig) against Silva.