REVIEW: NO TIME TO DIE (2021)

NO TIME TO DIE (2021)

Daniel Craig says goodbye to his tenure as 007 in this final flick that wraps up some of the story arcs that were woven within his now five films. This adventure picks up where Spectre left off with Bond (Craig) retired from active duty and romancing Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). When Spectre attacks and Bond feels betrayed, he parts ways with Madeleine and goes off to live a solitary life in Jamaica. Five years later, he is drawn back into action, when CIA buddy Felix Leiter asks for help, when a traitorous MI6 scientist (David Dencik) hands a dangerous new nanotechnology over to vengeful madman Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek). Things get even more difficult when he finds Madeleine is somehow involved.

Twenty-fifth Bond is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from his script and story with Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Pheobe Waller-Bridge. Fukunaga brings the action, intrigue, glamourous locations and sizzling romance we expect from this series, while adding a stronger than usual emotional undercurrent with Madeleine and Bond’s personal drama at the center of things. There are some dynamic actions scenes, some fun new characters—like Lashana Lynch’s double-o, Nomi and Ana de Armas’ scene stealing CIA agent, Paloma—and an effective and fiendish villain in Rami Malek’s Safin. The nanotechnology tech was an interesting plot MacGuffin and added some nice tension and a couple of chilling scenes. We also got a welcome return to the maniacal villain with an island lair for Bond to infiltrate, which makes for an emotionally charged climax. If the film has any drawbacks, it’s that at 163 minutes, it could have used a bit of a trim, with some of the scenes between Bond and Madeleine stopping the film’s momentum at times. Otherwise, this was a fitting and solid entry for Daniel Craig to say goodbye with.

A very good cast with Craig in top form as Bond. He plays a man weary of world intrigue and hardened by too many betrayals. He is still lethal and dangerous when provoked. Léa Seydoux is good as Madeleine Swann and gets a much meatier part this time to play. Rami Malek is an effective and spooky villain as the scarred and vengeful Lyutsifer Safin. He is a man with a deadly purpose and he is one of the creepier Bond villains in some time. Malek plays him disturbingly calm and it makes him all the scarier. As mentioned, Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas were welcome new additions as new double-0 and ditzy but dangerous CIA agent respectively. Returning cast members Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as Q and Geoffrey Wright as Felix, all perform their parts strongly. We even get a spooky cameo by Christoph Waltz as Blofeld. A top notch cast.

In conclusion, it may have been a tad too long and deviates from the action a bit more often than needed, but it is still a solid Bond flick and a proper farewell to Daniel Craig as 007. We get a worthy Bond adversary, some lovely and lethal ladies and some really good actions scenes in globe hopping locations. In the end, what more do you want from a Bond film?!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) Aston Martins

**************************************************

007 RETURNS! NO TIME TO DIE GETS A NEW TRAILER!

No Time To Die is being heralded as Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007 and we are getting a new trailer ahead of it’s scheduled November release. Newest Bond adventure is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a script by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Scott Z. Burns, Robert Wade and Neal Purvis. Rami Malek is our villain with Bond girl Léa Seydoux returning along with Ana de Armas and Ralph Fiennes once again as M. No Time To Die opens in the US on 11/20/20!

***************************************************

-MonsterZero NJ

Source: youtube

BOND IS BACK! NO TIME TO DIE GETS A TRAILER!

No Time To Die is being heralded as Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007 and we are getting our first look with the new trailer. Newest Bond adventure is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a script by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Scott Z. Burns, Robert Wade and Neal Purvis. Rami Malek is our villain with Bond girl Léa Seydoux returning and Ralph Fiennes once again as M. No Time To Die opens in the US on 4/8/2020.

***************************************************

-MonsterZero NJ

Source: youtube

JAMES BOND TAKES ON “SPECTRE” IN A FINAL NEW TRAILER!

Daniel Craig is returning for his fourth outing as James Bond 007…and Skyfall’s Sam Mendes returns to direct…and he’s up against an old and familiar nemesis. We have a new trailer for the upcoming Spectre which opens on 11/6/15 and stars Christoph Waltz and Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Dave Bautista. Looks awesome!

-MonsterZero NJ

TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA (1973)

THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA (1973)

U.S. release title: Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to other reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

Christopher Lee appeared in one last film in the Hammer Films Dracula series, though, he would play the role one last time in the French film Dracula père et fils in 1976. Sadly, it is the weakest of the films, ending the series on a very mundane note. This film does have sentimental importance to me, as I saw it on a double bill with Amicus’ Vault Of Horror at the Showboat Cinema in Edgewater, N.J. when it was finally released in the U.S. in 1978 as Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride. It is nostalgically the only Hammer Dracula I saw in a theater and my recent revisit gravely disappointed me compared to how I remembered it.

Alan Gibson returned to direct as did Don Houghton return to write and despite only being their second Dracula film, the gas has already run out. They give the story more of a James Bond twist with Dracula disguising himself as a reclusive, millionaire CEO who is plotting a hideous revenge on all mankind using a combination of Satanic ritual and biological warfare…what? Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) and granddaughter Jessica (now Absolutely Fabulous’ Joanna Lumley) return to thwart The Count and save the world from a hideous fate, along with Dracula A.D. 1972‘s Inspector Murray (Michael Coles). Unknown to Van Helsing, though, Dracula still has a jones for his granddaughter. Yup, that’s it.

The script is obviously very weak, turning the fierce Count into a sub-par James Bond villain complete with evil plot to destroy the world, hidden lair and having him gleefully pontificate his plan to Van Helsing, who, obviously, serves in the James Bond role. He even spares Van Helsing’s life so he can watch the plan unfold, which is, of course, his undoing. The thought that Dracula would create a plague to wipe out his food source is ludicrous and Van Helsing’s pondering that it may be a final revenge/act of suicide is not an acceptable explanation. It’s silly. Dracula has had too many opportunities to stay dead, if he wanted to. Despite Dracula A.D. 1972 being somewhat fun and energetic, Gibson directs with a leaden hand here and the action is quite routine and ho-hum despite the filmmakers saying “PG be damned” and loading up on the blood, gore and nudity. The FX are so-so and even the selection of Hammer hotties is not up to par with the last few flicks, despite that the James Bond-ish angle would require a bevy of beauties to really take it the whole nine yards. The cinematography by Brian Probyn is unremarkable and has a TV movie look and John Cacavas delivers a forgettable score. The effort here is as dead as it’s vampires and one wonders why they bothered at all, as no one seemed to really want to do this. No suspense, no atmosphere, and despite healthy servings of gore and nudity, nothing memorable about the action. Even Dracula and Van Helsing’s final confrontation is half-hearted and unimaginative. It has a very ‘let’s get this over with’ feeling to it.

This is not only the first film with a weak cast, but the first film where Lee really appears to be tired of all this. He isn’t bad and has some fearsome moments, but compared to the rest of the films, he really seems to be just going through the paces. Another testament of his talent that even so, he is still effective. Cushing is the only one to seem to really be giving his all as Van Helsing, but that is why he is the legend he is and he didn’t have to go through this for the last seven years like Lee. Lumley is given little to do and doesn’t have the spunky sex-appeal of Stephanie Beacham’s Jessica from the previous installment. Dracula’s minions and vampire girls are all generic and unremarkable and Coles plays Murray as woodenly as he did last time.

Overall, this is a really weak effort and one wonders if it was just one last cash grab to milk a little more out of the series. It has an odd James Bond style plot…which is ironic, as Lee would become a true James Bond villain the following year in The Man With The Golden Gun and upstage Roger Moore…and yet none of that series’ buoyancy. There is plenty of nudity and gore, but used unimaginatively, the exploitation elements aren’t effective. It’s the first time the impeccable Lee seemed uncomfortable in the role and like he didn’t want to be there…which he didn’t. It’s an unfortunately, sad farewell to a classic series that maintained a certain quality almost to the end.

-MonsterZero NJ

2 and 1/2 fangs and it only gets that for sentimental reasons.

 

 

“SPECTRE” GETS A BRAND NEW TRAILER!

James Bond 007 is soon to return and he brings a familiar nemesis with him. Here is the second trailer for Spectre! Spectre opens 11/6/15 and stars Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz and Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Dave Bautista.

MonsterZero NJ

JAMES BOND RETURNS IN “SPECTRE” and GETS A TRAILER!

Daniel Craig is returning for his fourth outing as James Bond 007…and Skyfall’s Sam Mendes returns to direct…and he’s up against an old and familiar nemesis. Here is the first trailer for Spectre! Spectre opens 11/6/15 and also stars Christoph Waltz and Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Dave Bautista.

MonsterZero NJ

JAMES BOND 007 IS BACK in SPECTRE!

“A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.”

…That’s the plot from the official announcement that has been made concerning the latest adventures of James Bond 007! The upcoming 24th film will be titled simply Spectre… the name of the evil organization that plagued Bond during the 60s film adventures… and will star Daniel Craig again as Bond, Ralph Fiennes as M, Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as Q along with Christoph Waltz as Oberhauser, former WWE superstar and Guardians Of The Galaxy member Dave Batista as Mr. Hinx, the super sexy Monica Belluci as Lucia Sciarra, Andrew Scott as Denbigh and Lea Seydoux as Madeline Swann! Director Sam Mendes returns to helm! Can’t wait as Skyfall was one of the best Bonds of the series! SPECTER is due in theaters 11/6/15

source:Joblo.com/CBM

REVIEW: SKYFALL (2012)

SKYFALL (2012)

This Sunday night on the couch I decided to revisit James Bond’s latest adventure!

Skyfall is a very interesting and entertaining entry in this 50 year old series in that it gives us all the classic elements that we’ve come to expect from a Bond film and yet, takes it into new and unexpected territory. Not everyone is going to like where it goes but, I certainly did. The story is actually quite simple. After a mission goes awry, 007 (Daniel Craig) is thought dead but, is actually living in secret, drowning the negative effects of his job with sex and booze. But, when a mysterious and sinister individual targets MI6 and M (Dame Judi Dench) in particular, Bond returns to action despite doubts from some of his superiors that he still can handle the job. Writers Robert Wade, Neal Purvis and John Logan craft a story that is part spy thriller and part Silence Of The Lambs as Bond faces not a villainous organization or rogue government but, one very dangerous and psychotic ex-MI6 agent known as Silva (Javier Bardem), who is bent on avenging what he feels is a betrayal by his former boss, M. It’s a daring direction to give this Bond film a more personal focus despite it’s scope and having Bond defending, not Queen and Country but, the one person he can even remotely consider family, M, from a man whose motives for revenge are equally personal. And director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition) is more then up to the task. Mendes gives the film the epic scope we’ve come to expect from these movies as the film travels from Turkey to Shanghai and from Macau to London and Scotland but, never looses focus on the characters or story. He directs the action in a refreshingly old fashion manner, no more evident then in the thrilling train set pre-credit sequence. No quick cuts or shaky-cam, just good intense action and the result is very exciting and also accents the story, not becomes it. He gets great performances out of his cast. Craig is sensational as a Bond, who is a bit burnt-out and bitter yet, is driven by duty and loyalty to return to a life he has a chance to escape… a life that maybe is right for him after all. Bardem is simply brilliant as the demented and dangerous yet, disturbingly flamboyant, Silva. A man who is Bond’s equal in many way’s but, is twisted by his inner pain and thirst for revenge. Dame Judi Dench is wonderful as usual in an expanded role for M. She and Craig are magic together and it’s great to see them share so many scenes after Quantum Of Solace kept them apart for almost that entire film. The supporting cast including Naomie Harris (Eve). Ralph Fiennes (Mallory) and Ben Whishaw (a young, computer geek-ish Q) are all excellent and provide great support for the principles. Mendes makes this flick look great with some stunning camera work such as the Blade Runner-esque Shanghai and the moody moors of Scotland. The film is deliberately paced but, it is more thriller then action flick although, there is plenty of the latter. Round that out with a very Bond score by Thomas Newman, a classic Bond theme song by Adele and one of the best opening credits sequences in some time and you have a solid James Bond flick that is both charmingly familiar and yet boldly treads new ground. Bravo!

3 and 1/2 Aston Martins!