Martin Campbell On Daniel Craig's Darker James Bond
The Star Online features a report on Martin Campbell, director of Casino Royale, who speaks about the newest James Bond film as well as Daniel Craig’s darker performance as 007…
‘He certainly fitted the book, and the more realistic approach much better than anybody else,’ says Campbell of Craig as Bond. ‘This Bond had to be darker, and Daniel can convey that. He has that dark quality–that presence on the screen of someone who could definitely take care of himself.’
‘He turned out to be very good indeed,’ Campbell says. ‘I mean, to begin with, he buffed up and he trained and he looked great. But I think there was a little bit of a learning curve in the way you do action, the way you shoot action, the way it’s done. But once he was in the rhythm he was great.’
When asked how Casino Royale compared with his previous film in the series, 1995’s GoldenEye, which introduced Pierce Brosnan as Bond, Campbell said: ‘Well it was a different concept in that GoldenEye was very much a traditional Bond, I think. It was a new actor playing Bond but nevertheless the story was very much along the normal lines, except that in that story 006 was the bad guy, but you still had the bad guys trying to destroy the world, all the usual scenarios, whereas this is very much more down to earth. So no more exploding control rooms, no more incredulous action sequences.’
Campbell was also asked if any particular previous Craig films convinced him that he was the perfect James Bond: ‘Layer Cake has a certain charm about it despite being about drugs. He is very charming in it. And normally, you associate him with slightly heavier roles like Enduring Love, The Mother, Sylvia, and actually I thought Munich was one of the best things he’s done, although he’s hardly got a line in it. He’s bursting with vitality in that role. And as I’ve said, this Bond had to be darker, and Daniel can convey that.
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Pretty much everything works perfect with a great cast and crew turning a very good screenplay into an excellent thriller.
Dalton plays the cool professional every step of the way, casually running roughshod over Saunders but remaining likable as only Bond can. The sequence also is a prime example of efficient storytelling as we are introduced to all but a few of the characters we really need info on for the story in a matter of minutes. It probably also helps that the opening movement of the sequence is taken directly from Fleming. The pipeline ruse is a nice bit of low key humor that also provided a clever resolution for the sequence. All of this is expertly directed with style by John Glen.
Jeroen Krabbé does good work as Koskov. While some dislike the performance, I think he plays it well, putting on an outwardly jaunty, well meaning disposition to cover the slimy worm he truly is. Bond’s glances at him during this scene are good as well as they clue the audience in that Bond thinks Koskov is full of it. The abduction of Koskov is well done as well with the boisterous, creative kitchen fight leading to a nicely grim one man assault by Necros.
The action in the film is handled equally well with the big car chase forty five minutes in providing with enough thrills and laughs for two action scenes. I especially love Dalton’s deadpan reactions to Kara during the chase. He gives a subtly humorous performance as Bond, an approach that works well. Ironically enough given the production history of the film, he comes off as somewhat similar to Brosnan’s Bond in this scene and elsewhere in the film.
