(no subject)

[trinityvixen]

So, just watched the newest trailer for Casino Royale.

Daniel Craig? Smoking hot. Not attractive, not just physically perfect, not even emotionally appealing. Just. Smoking. Hot. There are people whose intensity burns through all they do, and he is one of those people. It think it's the eyes. His eyes have this strange blue-white star level of incandescence. I remember that about Layer Cake, too, how you couldn't follow anything he was doing or who was doing what around him half the time, but you knew he was taking it all Very. Seriously. In Road to Perdition, his character's obvious paranoia screamed out of those eyes, even as he kept his face impassive, and man did you know there was trouble about. I remember not being impressed with him as a love interest for mega-babe Angelina in Tomb Raider, but there was something still really sexy about what he did with that one-note character. The way I remember it, Craig sold him as a sheepish type who was still amazed a pretty girl ever gave him the time of day. And yet? He knew his shit and didn't really care to be questioned about it. Gave him an edge of danger and one over the little girl running around with guns.

The Undeniable Hotness of Daniel Craig even me forgive the schmaltzy romance angle played up in the trailer--'cause, come on, this is James Bond, which the trailer mostly conveniently forgets (and not in a bad way), and he's not supposed to have a one true love (especially not as they already tried to make the case for that with Teri Hatcher in Tomorrow Never Dies, and this is supposed to be the reboot of the franchise, so I think we know that this isn't twu wub anyway). The lines spouted off are as corny as anything, but the opening thirty seconds? Scared me to death. It helps that Craig doesn't try for being suave as Pierce Brosnen in manner; I found Brosnen sleazy and gross and everything wrong played up about James Bond being a womanizer and basically a government-employed adrenaline and sex addict. With Craig, again as he did in Layer Cake he made the case for his character being so amazingly put together and smart that you were drawn to him. I like the idea of a guy having sexy chicks orbiting him for his personality being that gravitational in its gravitas much better than a mildly good-looking guy chasing after the dismissive princess and wearing down her resolve. Skeeeeeeeeeeve much?

I like this Bond already, not just because Daniel Craig sells it harder than any recent Bond in memory. He sells it like a cross between my favorite Bonds--Connery and Dalton. Connery had the arrogant, cock-sure confidence and a body built for the rough stuff; Dalton had the blazing intensity and unspoken resolve to do--and do with exquisite violence--whatever necessary to achieve his objective. Craig comes across as being cooly assured he is both magnetic, hot, intelligent, savvy, dangerous, and ready.

Ready for what? Watch the trailer and see.

Comments

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Actually, Bond had a TWU WUB. She gets killified because of him. The novel Bond is more emotional than the movie ones -- he's more aware he's a bad man doing bad things and likely to be killed by bad men at any time, and thinks on this often.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

It does look great and kind of "real" I suppose, which is far more intriguing than another cookie-cutter Bond picture. I did like Goldeneye, but Die Another Day really just kind of made me want to die it was so stupid.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I loved Pierce Brosnan. But although Goldeneye was pretty good, most of the subsequent movies were kinda dumb, which wasn't really Brosnan's fault.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I like that angle, too. I dunno that you can sell it to audiences that have been digesting Connery-Bond affectation of that for forty-odd years, 's all I'm saying.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

God, which one was Die Another Day? All the Brosnen Bond movies tend to blur. I remember them based on songs, not the movie. I know I liked the songs from Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough, but I remember both as being dreadful and not much else about the movies. DAD...that was the one with Halle Berry, yeah?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

That's fine--he was Bond in the Roger Moore tradition, and there are a couple of interesting Moore-Bond movies. I just found him sleazy enough that I didn't buy him being attractive and not making the women around him more likely to want a shower than to want him...

Unfortunately, I didn't see Goldeneye until many, many years later, and by then I saw Sean Bean and went "Evil." Kinda ruins that. But Famke was way hot.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Once you go Evil, you never go back.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

That's not true! He's been good/morally conflicted guy a couple of times! Boromir was morally conflicted but ultimately good! (God, that sounded like a DnD-ism) Whatever Sean Bean's name was in Silent Hill was a nice guy! He was all about emotions and artistic expression and against totalitarian lifeless living in Equilibrium.

It is possible for him to be a good guy. Chances are just good that he's not.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

Regrettably yes. By the time "Yo mama" had rolled around I was way past done.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

Equilibrium amd Lord of the Rings still seem like 007 pigeonholing to me -- in both, he's the "best friend who turns on the main character" (which he also did in National Treasure. At least Equilibrium turned the idea on its ear a little bit. You'd think an actor would get tired of doing the same thing...

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

But..but...but...it's Sean Bean! That's what he does! Moral conflict! Backstabbing! He specializes! Has a degree and everything!

And I think he started out not evil in the Lt. Sharpe movies, which I haven't seen but will take on faith that he's not entirely evil as he's the star...