Canadian Secret Services???

So, tonight I got treated to the new James Bond flick. Since I **adored** Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, I have been officially in countdown mode leading up to this weekend. I was a tad worried however, since the early reviews were mixed and only gave the film 2.5 stars. But more to the point, I figured that since the only two actors I consider watching as Bond include Sean Connery (duh) and Daniel Craig, I was probably setting my expectations neck-breakingly high. Whatever.

Some black licorice, a bottle of water, and the last two seats left in the whole theatre and I found myself watching the film on opening weekend. While the credits and theme song were boring (who could've believed that Alicia Keys would produce such a snoozer of tune, or even chosen to continue to associate herself with it once she heard the master?), and I found many of the key chase scenes edited too fast (I like to actually see a bit of what is going on versus only feeling the chase if you will), I felt the critics were unfairly harsh. Yes, if you hadn't seen Casino Royale, you would probably be muttering "What the heck is going on"? But I felt the film was long enough (versus Casino Royale, which should have ran at least an extra 15 minutes), and I personally liked having a pair of Bond girls. To the reviewer who said that actress Olga Kurylenko slept-walked her way through the film, recognize that at least her character was given a back story and a mission of her own. And *hello*- all Bond got from her in the end was a kiss. The woman has backbone. You gotta respect that. Despite Gemma Atherton's character barely appearing onscreen long-enough to count as a Bond girl at all, I appreciated that she managed to create an endearing character, not to mention the homage to Goldfinger with her method of demise. Very au courant, albeit terrible to contemplate.

Speaking of girls, I had to tip my hat to the jab they made at the end to my fair country. In the final scene, the female character is a member of Canadian Secret Services. As she scurries out, she makes sure to give a quick "Thank you" to Bond. Always polite, us Canadians, LOL. I say, give her some credit though- she was smart enough to believe Bond whereas some other woman would've been stupid enough to "believe in her love". Sometimes the most important thing, after all, is to recognize the truth of the situation and act accordingly.

So while I think Casino Royale deserved its 4 star rating, and while the current film is more of a sequel to its prequel, I did enjoy the film very much. Which means nobody should be surprised when I go for a repeat showing again this month. :=) As a footnote worth noting, as we exited the theatre, a bochur came over and asked if we had seen the James Bond film and what we thought of it. Only in Brooklyn could you find a theatre packed with Yeshivish types all trying to get in to see James Bond opening weekend. Sometimes I've got to admit it: Brooklyn can rock!