After a rather long wait, Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 is about to arrive in cinemas... hopefully. So I thought it was about time I did another rewatch, one that was unlikely to be as painful as A Fast Moustache ReWatch. At first I was only going to rewatch Craig's four James Bond movies, but then I started thinking about some of the other movies he's made over the last twenty years, and this suddenly became a much bigger endeavour. I began scouring streaming services and my own Blu-ray/DVD collection, one of these titles I even had to turn to ebay to find - it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which one. Then I had to find time to watch these movies, all 12 of them. The result of which was a rather fun two weeks. And at the end of this rainbow... No Time To Die.
Once I started thinking about including more of Daniel Craig's movies in this rewatch, Road to Perdition seemed like a pretty good place to start... a future Bond working with a future Bond director.
"Sons are put on this Earth to trouble their fathers." That line - eloquently delivered by Paul Newman - perfectly sums up what this movie is about.
The first thing that strikes you when watching this - apart from the beautiful but chilling visuals - is Hanks' cold approach to his children. It's so uncharacteristic of him. Hanks' son Chet said this is his favourite of his dad's performances because "that role is the farthest from his normal self out of any of the movie's he's done." I watched this with my friend Joe, who hadn't seen the movie, and was reassured that he also found it weird to see Hanks like that. In fact, Joe's immediate reaction was; "What a dickhead!" Which seems like an appropriate reaction to Michael Sullivan Sr.'s parenting technique.
Strangely, Sullivan's relationship with his own adopted father, Paul Newman's 'John Mooney', is wonderful. It's in their moments together, that we see the Hanks we know and love. Which creates this odd family dynamic between Mooney, Sullivan, and Mooney's son Connor (Daniel Craig). The three actors are fantastic together. Connor is the heir apparent, while Sullivan is the loyal right hand, and yet Connor is always on the outside looking in. He will never be the favourite, and the rage and jealousy born from that realisation has put the young Mooney on a rather wayward path. Craig's ability to emote fear and anger is impressive. There's that beautiful shot in which the camera zooms in on Connor, but focuses on Mooney with his arm around Sullivan, which perfectly highlights this troubled relationship.
A young Tyler Hoechlin gives the other stellar performance in this gangster movie with a twist, as Michael Sullivan Jr. Seeing your father kill two people is something no child should ever have to go through, but knowing that half your family was killed because you saw it, that's unimaginable. And yet, Road to Perdition evolves into this rather heartwarming tale of a father and son bonding, albeit over driving lessons and stealing from the mob. It's almost weird, given the tragic circumstances and the danger the pair face, how nice those moments are. I suppose it's got to be seeing something good come from something horrible. Even my buddy Joe was moved by Sullivan's warming to his son: "His parenting skills are improving."
Luckily, Jude Law's creepy, rat-like assassin is on hand to remind us of the perils of messing with the mob's money. There are several tense encounters throughout, but none more so than when young Michael sees Connor through his front door. It takes you a second to realise what Connor is actually looking at. And then when his father returns home to see Michael sat at the table, the combination of Hanks' screams and the look on Hoechlin's face is powerful. You can almost feel their pain, and you want Connor to suffer for what he's done. Yet you can't quite blame Mooney for protecting his son - probably because it's Paul Newman - even though it irreparably damages his relationship with Sullivan. Seeing the two men meet for the last time, you feel sorry for both of them. Because no matter how much you want things to go differently, you know it can't. What they once had is gone, and it's very sad.
What would a Daniel Craig rewatch be without Layer Cake? Incomplete, that's what. Matthew Vaughn's directorial debut is akin to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and The Gentlemen, only without the cartoon style. Layer Cake feels more grounded, like this sort of thing goes on everyday. It's a fascinating cross-section (or slice of cake) of London's criminal underworld, and right in the middle is Craig's 'XXXX' - the man who's quite happy to tell you everyone else’s name, whilst desperately trying to keep his own a secret. This is, after all, an intelligent guy who tries to fly under the radar. But Craig does play it incredibly cool - he even brings charisma to his narration. It's not hard to see why this movie played a role in getting Craig the Bond role, and I'm not just talking about the famous scene in which Craig plays secret agent with a Luger - although it is one way to meditate. Craig brings this suave, sophisticated, yet complicated character to life. The thing that makes him most interesting, however, is his blinkers.
In carving out his own little piece of the criminal underworld, he has done his best to cut himself off from the nasty side of that world. He's had Morty (George Harris), Gene (Colm Meaney), and even Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) protecting him from it. And seeing him exposed to it in a much bigger way than he's used to, thinking on his feet as he mingles across all the layers of the titular cake is quite something. But as brutal as it is, it can also be funny. The contrast between characters like Jamie Foreman's loudmouth 'Duke' and Michael Gambon's delightful yet menacing 'Eddie Temple' is as hilarious as it is believable. I particularly like the way Temple slips between his adopted posh accent and his homegrown London accent. Credit should also go to Dragan Micanovic, who goes mostly unseen and still manages to be rather sinister. But for me it's Cody and Tiptoes (Dexter Fletcher and Steve John Shepherd) - and their insane antics - that truly steal the show.
Ultimately though, this movie carries with it a valuable lesson; no matter how much shit you take, tragedy and death know no layers. It does, however, make for a great ending - one that Matthew Vaughn had to be sneaky enough to get. That first time you watch it, you definitely don't see it coming. And you have to wonder; (SPOILER ALERT) if the smarmy git wasn't so busy gloating to us, would he still be alive? I guess we'll never know.
This seems like a pretty good warm up for entering into the role of James Bond, and not just because the cast features a future Bond, a future Bond villain, and a former Bond villain. Spielberg always did want to direct a Bond movie. Munich tells the story of the Mossad agents chosen to track down and kill the members of Black September responsible for planning the attack on the Israeli Olympic team at Munich in 1972.
What makes Munich interesting is that it doesn't take sides, it questions whether the actions - on either side - are justified, or even worth it. That said, it's a movie that never really sits right. It's almost uncomfortable to watch. After a brief glimpse of the shocking events that took place at the 1972 Munich Olympics, we're introduced to Avner Kaufman (Eric Bana), the man selected to lead this covert hit team, and the insane lengths the Israelis went to in order to distance themselves from the group. Deposit boxes in a Swiss bank and a contract that states Avner doesn't work for the Israeli government (that last part feels a little like overkill). From there the team begins tracking their targets across Europe and beyond. Unlike Bond or any espionage movie for that matter, the kills aren't clean or glamorous. In fact, they're rather messy - the first most of all. The most Bond-like moment sees Daniel Craig use a suppressed pistol to shoot out a streetlight (no doubt a congratulatory nod from Spielberg).
As the group's confidence increases, the more elaborate their plans become. The inevitable mishaps cause tensions and tempers to flare, as the individual men begin to question the morality of their work. Reports of Palestinian retaliation don't help either, leaving them wondering if what they're doing is helping. This is where the movie really becomes interesting, as the group begins to fall apart and paranoia sets in. When you put a bomb in a man's bed, can you ever sleep soundly again? But for me, one of the most poignant moments in the movie sees Craig's hot-headed getaway driver, Steve, take over the role of "worrier" from Ciarán Hinds' 'Carl'. At first Steve just wants to kill as many enemies as possible, but after seeing the toll this work is having on his teammates he becomes the stable member, the one trying to hold everyone together. A transition Craig portrays rather naturally.
The strange thing is - beyond the odd French family who is depicted as being the group's only source of intelligence and logistics - if this movie is meant to question the point of all the endless killing perpetuated by the human race, why did they not include the group's final mission in the movie? In 1973 a Moroccan waiter named Ahmed Bouchikhi was killed in Lillehammer, Norway, when he was mistaken for Black September member Ali Hassan Salameh. By all accounts Munich is far from historically accurate - I refer you back to the aforementioned French family - that terrible mistake would serve the movie's supposed point much more effectively. Especially when combined with that foreboding closing image of the World Trade Centre in New York.
So as I said before; originally I only planned to rewatch Craig's four Bond movies. That change meant it took me longer to get to Casino Royale, and I must say, it was nice to build up to it. Craig's entry into the 007 franchise is epic, maybe even legendary. Bringing Martin Campbell back as director was a genius idea. He revamped the franchise with Goldeneye, and he did it again here. After Pierce Brosnan left the role they didn't just replace the actor, they took a sledgehammer to the whole thing and started again. No doubt the popularity of the Jason Bourne movies played a part in this. Instead of a fun action movie with a varying pun to punch ratio, we get a rather tense action-thriller, one that doesn't follow the usual pattern of a big budget action movie. The result of which is a very raw version of the world's most famous spy.
The opening sequence is the perfect introduction for this much darker Bond, coldly eliminating a national security threat. But it's the chase sequences that come after the opening credits that truly demonstrate his determination to get the job done, even if it means killing rather than capturing his target. He is after all, "a blunt instrument". Although it is hard to argue with the logic of one less bombmaker in the world. Thankfully Bond manages to take two of them in this movie. In a way, then, it's kind of funny to think that the first villain for this more brutal version of the character to go up against is essentially an accountant. They're not exactly known for striking fear in the hearts of the masses. Unless they're played by Mads Mikkelsen, of course. Mikkelsen masterfully portrays both the intelligence and the nastiness of this mysterious character. Every time he's on screen you can see him considering his options and weighing up the odds. Le Chiffre is as cold at the poker table as he is in that torture scene - it's as vicious as it is simplistic! And it can make a man laugh almost as much as it'll make him squirm.
That said, for all the brutality, Craig's Bond can still bring the playful charm. It wouldn't be a Bond movie without it. The way he continually ribs Le Chiffre - to the point of extreme fury - is hilarious. Something he does to Vesper on the odd occasion as well. And lets not forget Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) and Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who bring their own sense of style and humour to proceedings. But it's his relationship with 'M' (Judi Dench) that I particularly like. The pairing of Craig and Dench is absolutely delightful. Underneath all the insults and bickering, there's obviously a lot of love and respect.
But more importantly, this is the first really human Bond. Whereas previous actors were playing a character, Craig seems to be playing something closer to a real person. Little things like the anger he experiences after losing to Le Chiffre, or his cheeky little smile after seeing a bombmaker fall foul of his own device. You especially see it, however, in his relationship with Vesper. She is more complicated than any previous "Bond Girl". It's a true testament to Eva Green's performance that on rewatching the movie, you can see the guilt and the pressure Vesper is under. However, one of the pair's standout moments is the shower scene - it's a perfect example of how the character of Bond has been changed. In the past he may have used a slightly different approach, but here he simply consoles Vesper, it's a touching moment thanks to two phenomenal actors.
On the other hand; (Spoiler Alert) Vesper's death is devastating - no matter how many times you watch it. It's something Bond never truly recovers from. We haven't seen Bond with a broken soul before, and thanks to Craig's emotional performance, we can appreciate everything Bond is feeling. The rage, the grief, the pain. How he loves, hates and mourns Vesper, all at once. And of course, the drive to go after all those responsible for her demise.
There's no denying that Daniel Craig proved all of those naysayers wrong... he didn't just take on the role of Bond, he revolutionised it!
For the first time in the history of the James Bond franchise, a movie picks up pretty much where the last one left off. Quantum of Solace is the revenge story to Casino Royale's love story. One that sees a much colder Bond - Craig still on top form - leaving a trail of destruction everywhere he goes, as he hunts Mr White (Jesper Christensen) and his associates in the mysterious Quantum. It's almost heartbreaking to see Bond struggling with this inner turmoil over Vesper. But it does mean we once again get to explore this more humanised Bond, as he attempts to run from his own grief by making others feel the pain that he feels.
The movie opens with that incredible car chase, in which Bond comes under assault from multiple Quantum goons whilst fleeing with a captive Mr White. It's good to finally see the Aston Martin DBS put through its paces, even if the filmmakers are no more kind here than they were to the car seen in Casino Royale. But the action isn't the problem with this troubled sequel. Quite the contrary, in fact, there are many great action setpieces; the rooftop chase, the speedboat chase in Haiti (watch out for the now infamous street sweeper), the chaos at the opera, the aerial pursuit over Bolivia, and the final confrontation at the hotel.
With Quantum of Solace they seem to have moved even further away from the original Bond blueprint than they did with Casino Royale. Maybe too far. I often wonder how different this movie would have turned out if it hadn't been affected by the writer's strike. The answer being; I have no idea. Thanks to said writer's strike we are left with a messy story and a weak villain. Mathieu Almaric tries valiantly to make Dominic Greene interesting, but in the end he's just a snivelling little shit with an assistant who wears a bad wig (Anatole Taubman). Although their plans to control the world's (or at least Bolivia's) water supply is rather nasty, and it does at least make the movie feel in some way relevant. But Bond chases Quantum halfway around the world, and despite leaving Greene to die in the desert with nothing but a can of oil - which was very satisfying - he doesn't really do much to dismantle this covert organisation. Or at the very least we're never shown it. What is it they say about the Hydra? All of which leaves the franchise open to an even bigger mess in Spectre.
It does get better with further rewatches, and Bond's struggles with grief (set to that beautiful but sombre score) is very compelling, but it is still one of Daniel Craig's weaker Bond movies.
Defiance is an incredible story of survival! To think that roughly 1200 Jews were saved from the Holocaust by a group of brothers who built a community deep within the forests of German-occupied Eastern Europe, is astounding. I'm not sure how historically accurate the movie's version of the story is, but it does give you an idea of how terrifying it must have been to live in such circumstances, to be hated so much that you are hunted for extermination. Seeing survival as both an act of faith and defiance, to keep fighting no matter what, would take unbelievable strength. But it's also courageous to focus on surviving, to ignore the urge to fight back.
Daniel Craig - who's having a pretty good stab at yet another accent - is once again joined by a magnificent cast in the telling of a tale based on true events. One I am sorry to say I was not aware of before the movie came out. It's mind-blowing to think that so many people were able to hide out in the forest for so long, and the movie captures that in brutal detail. Through strong performances, we see the strain of keeping such a community alive. Something that is especially evident in the scenes where food is short, or the brothers fight over the increasing population in the camp. But most of all towards the end, when the group are fleeing the encroaching German army and everyone looks to Tuvia (Craig) to decide which way to go. We see how overwhelmed he is by the weight of this great responsibility.
Unfortunately, people don't always react in quite the same way. Whereas some will look to help others in times of crisis, there are those who will only take care of themselves. This is something the movie doesn't shy away from; the fact that we aren't all angels, and will turn on our own in the fight for survival. It begs the question, well questions, really: "How far do you go to survive?" "Where is the line?" and "Is it possible to stick to one's morals and principals in such a situation?"
On a side note, why is Sam Spruell always cast as the arsehole?
Which brings us to a movie that has pretty much fallen into Hollywood obscurity. I had to turn to ebay to find it - the blu-ray, that is - which may or may not be a hint at it's popularity (or lack thereof). I remember being reasonably excited for Cowboys & Aliens, what was supposed to be one of 2011's summer blockbusters. It certainly had a lot going for it; Jon Favreau in the director's chair, a good cast, beautiful locations and great visual effects - including some incredible creature design. Favreau and his team really nailed the cowboy/western aesthetic, so much so that if they were to make a straight western - or one set in a galaxy far, far away - I would be excited to see it. But Cowboys & Aliens did not live up to the hype, and that hasn't changed in the ten years since its release. Of all the movies I've rewatched, this is definitely the one I was most curious about. Not only because I haven't seen it in a decade (of the 12 movies I rewatched, this is the only one I haven't seen in so long), but also to see if my opinion of it would change.
Cowboys & Aliens just isn't as fun as it should be. I mean, Cowboys teaming up with Native Americans to take on alien invaders, it all sounds very silly, especially when you consider why the aliens have come to our little planet. Surely they'd stripmine the whole place for any number of resources, not just gold. And therein lies the movie's problem; an absolutely ridiculous premise, taken all too seriously. Jon Favreau said he wanted to maintain the Western tone throughout the movie, and not suddenly end up in Independence Day, which he certainly achieved. But at least that movie embraced the lunacy of its premise and blended it with some laughs. It could be serious, at times it was even a little scary, and yet it still managed to make you laugh. Whereas here, they nailed the serious side, there's definitely something very sinister going on, and between that and some good action the movie does grab you (to an extent), but it's never really fun.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo undoubtedly features one of Daniel Craig's best collaborations - certainly of all the movies featured in this rewatch. He and Rooney Mara are magnificent together. The pair bring these wounded but gifted characters to life.
Right from the off this movie puts a chill down your spine. That chilling score is perfect. The book's original title: Men Who Hate Women, although not as catchy, it is a much more fitting title for what is a deep dive into the destructive tendencies men show towards women. I remember the first time I watched this movie (the first version I saw); I was on a transatlantic flight, and as engaged as I was by the story and the investigation within, I was uncomfortable watching it - not to mention, very aware of the people sitting behind me. And that, I think, encapsulates what this story is; a horrifying and brutal depiction of violence and control, that somehow manages to draw you in.
What a family too! The Vangers make the Thrombeys (from Knives Out) look positively delightful in comparison. Can you imagine being drawn into their nightmare existence? If it weren't for the fact that Henrik (Christopher Plummer)'s story is such a sad one, I imagine Mikael (Craig) would have run for the hills. Plummer delivers a wonderful performance as a man who has been broken for 40 years, by a singular event that he has been unable to fix. It's impossible not to sympathise with him. The way he tells Harriet's story is heart-wrenching, and yet you are gripped by it. That pull carries over into Mikael and Lisbeth's investigation, it's fascinating watching them work through a mountain of clues whilst maintaining the cover of writing Henrik's memoirs. Given the amount of paper and stationary the pair go through, I hope Amazon offer next day delivery up in Hedestad.
There are many great performances to enjoy in this rather dark world. Stellan Skarsgård brings charisma and charm to Martin, in fact it's almost impossible not to like him. (Spoiler Alert) Even when he's got Mikael caught in his nasty little dungeon, Skarsgård still manages to show a little charisma in his sadism. Goran Višnjić's 'Armansky' is one of the few actual nice men in this story, he genuinely seems to care for Lisbeth. But one of the best performances to be found in this movie is not easy to watch. Yorick van Wageningen plays Bjurman - Lisbeth's guardian - with an odd mix of deviance and humanity. The fact that there are times when he tries to be nice to her is unnerving. It's reported that he locked himself away for a couple of days after filming a certain scene, and I can certainly understand why. But no matter how horrible it is - and it really is - his performance is still superb.
If I did have one question regarding this convoluted tale it would be this; (Spoiler Alert) if Harriet loved Henrik so much, why did she torture him for all those years by sending him pressed flowers? It's not really explained in this version of the story, and even if you take into account the explanations from the others it still doesn't make sense. How could you think that those gifts would bring him anything but pain?
I was disappointed that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo never got a sequel - the sequel(s) it deserved, anyway. Seeing Lisbeth ride off into the night after having her world crushed is devastating, and I really wanted to see where she went from there.
Here we go! Daniel Craig's best Bond movie (to date)... Skyfall. Director Sam Mendes reunites with Craig to put Bond back on the map, and with Roger Deakins on cinematography duties, he's never looked so good.
This is where Craig's approach to the character changes somewhat. Whereas before he was the new guy, capable but a tad inexperienced, compensating for it with arrogance and charm, now he has become the jaded veteran. That's what the life of a public servant will do to you. He still wants to serve his country, but he's not so happy being expendable - the wisdom of age and experience. And it does make for some great back and forth between him and some new friends; Naomie Harris' delightfully playful 'Moneypenny', and Ben Whishaw's cheeky nerd of a Quartermaster.
I like the fact that this one strikes closer to home. The fact that the UK is quite literally under attack gives the story a real sense of urgency. Although I'm not really sure what a list of all MI6's deep cover agents is doing on a laptop hard drive in Turkey. But it does put our hero more on the back foot than he's ever been. The same goes for 'M', who embodies that wartime spirit of "keep calm and carry on". It's a good thing too, because a nightmare from her past has returned to haunt her. After waiting an hour to see him, Javier Bardem makes a wonderfully flamboyant entrance as 'Raoul Silva'. Like Bond he covers his pain, but with laughter rather than jaded cynicism. Between that and some serious mummy issues he is rather menacing... not to mention incredibly good fun.
Scotland really is beautiful, and so is that Aston Martin DB5! And to think Bond goes there to play Home Alone, that's something I never thought I'd see. There are a lot of conveniences in the story; a very intricate plan that requires everything to fall perfectly into place, which it conveniently does. But it does make for one hell of a last hoorah for Judi Dench, she is truly magnificent. Her relationship with Bond is as fabulous as ever, and you can see shadows of a similar relationship in her interactions with Silva. Seeing Bond's reaction to (Spoiler Alert) M's death, it's clear how much Craig has humanised him.
Ok, seeing as we're on a road to No Time To Die we can't really avoid this one, even if we really want to. So yeah... Spectre.
I think where Quantum of Solace drifted too far away from the Bond "mould", Spectre did the opposite. This looks a lot like those old Bond movies with a bit of a modern twist. Skyfall brought back a couple of elements from the earlier movies - like M's office - and it worked. What Spectre did was go one step further. Now, the evil organisation is back, as is Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). But so is the indestructible henchman, and the opening sequence with the naked dancing girls. It kind of feels like we've gone back in time, and not in a good way.
Interestingly, I watched this - a movie in which field operatives are considered obsolete thanks to the development of drones and satellites - on the day the US admitted a drone strike in Afghanistan killed 10 civilians (including 6 children), and not the IS fighters that were the intended targets.
I never thought I'd say this about a Bond movie, but this is boring. Watching this after Skyfall, it just fails to grab you. They've brought back this iconic villain, someone who is known for being mysterious, and you've reduced him to a miserable little wanker with daddy issues - he's mad at his dad for adopting an orphan, so he killed dad and started an international criminal empire. It doesn't matter how good Christoph Waltz is, you've kicked his legs out from under him. Then, not only did you reveal his ridiculous plan to cause Bond pain, you tied all of Craig's movies together with this bullshit (although Dominic Greene's photo was noticeably absent). And don't get me started on that stupid chair with the little drills: "Nothing can be as painful as listening to you talk." I don't know, have you tried watching this movie?
Thankfully the action does - for the most part - provide a welcome reprieve from the lacklustre plot. The opening sequence is brilliantly shot. As are the chases through Rome and the Austrian mountains. I did like that the movie pointed out that no matter how fast your Aston Martin can go, there will always be an arsehole in a Fiat 500 to get in your way. Dave Bautista even makes for an imposing adversary - unsurprisingly. He looks sharp in those suits, and that stare of his more than makes up for a lack of dialogue, but the thumbnails are a bit much.
Which brings us to the absolutely dire finale. Cue the obvious twist featuring Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Bond somehow manages to shoot down a helicopter with two handguns, while standing on a moving boat. Which is almost worth it to see the look of "oh shit" on Blofeld's face. Almost. And after all that effort, Bond doesn't shoot the bugger, he throws his gun away (a habit I particularly despise) and wanders off into another attempt at retirement.
For the most part, No Time To Die looks fantastic, a great way for Daniel Craig to leave the role. The only thing that gives me pause, is that it is inextricably linked to Spectre. Up until now we could at least ignore it, like there was nothing after Skyfall. But when No Time To Die arrives, we will no longer have that luxury.
After two Bond movies (one great, one not so much) we find ourselves - and Craig - worlds away from that of 007. In Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky Craig plays Joe Bang; the rather amusing and very incarcerated safecracker the Logan boys recruit to help them rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Appropriately nicknamed "Ocean's 7-11", this does resemble the director's signature heist series, in a dumbed down, redneck kind of a way. But one thing Logan Lucky does share with the Ocean's movies is a sense of fun. A perfect example of this being the scene in which Joe Bang tries to explain the science behind his plan to extract the cash... three idiots (or at least two) doing science in a cave. It's silly, but it's also clever, even if the science isn't quite right. After all, we don't want Hollywood teaching wannabe criminals how to make bombs.
Mr Craig looks to be having a whale of a time with this one. After being put through the ringer on Bond - including a nasty leg injury on Spectre - he's able to kick back a bit. Although not entirely, thankfully. He once again demonstrates his ability to put on a convincing accent; many of us when doing an impression of an American accent go for something similar to that of Joe Bang, but rarely do we do it so well. But the character really gets interesting once he begins working closely with Adam Driver's 'Clyde Logan'. At first it feels like this hilarious duo will be locked in some sort of cynicism competition, that is until they get out of prison. Once free of confinement we learn that Joe Bang isn't nearly as negative as we thought. In fact, compared to Clyde he's the poster boy for optimism. Bang's freedom (regardless of how brief) brings out a giddy playfulness in him - as seen when Joe and Clyde are picked up by the Logan's sister Mellie (Riley Keough) - and Craig plays both sides of the veteran safecracker to perfection, switching from one side to the other effortlessly. And it's for this reason that Joe Bang is one of the movie's most interesting characters - especially when teamed up with Clyde Logan.
Click here to check out my full review of Logan Lucky.
So who would have thought Daniel Craig would play one of fiction's great detectives? And aren't you glad that he did? I know I am (he says, eagerly awaiting Knives Out 2). Somewhere between Lt. Columbo, Sherlock Holmes and Foghorn Leghorn, Benoit Blanc is a mystery in himself. Watching him bimble around as he goes through his "process"; doughnuts within doughnut holes and all that, it's easy to underestimate him. I love the moment where Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan) shushes Lt. Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield) so he doesn't interrupt the great detective as he unspools this web of conspiracy. Much like Columbo, part of Blanc's process is to drive the subjects of his investigation crazy, and what a cast of characters he has to play with. Knives Out also marks yet another opportunity for Craig to work with a future Bond collaborator. He and Ana dé Armas have great chemistry as Blanc and dé Armas' 'Marta' try to solve the murder of beloved author and patriarch Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). They play wildly different characters in the upcoming No Time To Die, but the relationship seen in Knives Out is a very good sign.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We're talking about Rian Johnson's take on the murder mystery, here. And he has done an incredible job of wrangling this chaos! The really interesting part however, is that the murder mystery isn't the best part. It's the delightfully dysfunctional family at the heart of said mystery. They're the type of people you'd normally try to avoid, but it's pure joy watching them lie, cheat, scream and stab each other in the back. Seeing it through Marta's eyes gives the whole thing a very candid feel. She and all the other non-family members are very much made to feel like outsiders, including the audience. Maybe that's the reason you can't help being drawn into this world, or maybe it's the murder. Either way, it's a wonder this family has got this far without killing each other.
Click here to check out my full review of Knives Out.
The last 20 years have been quite something for Daniel Craig and his career. There have been a lot of highs and very few lows. He brought new depth to James Bond, and even though some of those movies fell short, he has done something incredible for the franchise. Hopefully No Time To Die will be the epic "farewell to arms" Craig deserves.
What's your favourite of Daniel Craig's movies? Leave a comment below or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also email us at moviemoustache@gmail.com.
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