Casino  Royale  vs.  Skyfall  By  Tan  Wen  Hao    

     When  we   talk  about   films  genre,  we  could  easily  relate   to  action   films.  One  of  the  famous  action  film  series  is  James  Bond  franchise,  which  has  been  embedded  in   our   heart   over   the   decades   since   1962,   with   the   recent   films   being   Casino  Royale   and   Skyfall.   Both   films  happened   to   be   the   highest   grossing   films   of   all  times  and  became  block-­‐office  hits  around  the  world!  And  while  we  looked  into  these   two  movies,  we   could   find  many   similarities   in   terms   of   plots,   climaxes,  characters  and  language  skills.        First,   let  us   look   into   the  plots.  At   the  beginning  of  Casino  Royale,  Bond  killed  the   M-­‐16   section   chief,   who   has   been   selling   confidential   information   to  terrorists.   Later,   Bond   was   appointed   to   pursue   the   member   of   terrorists   by  going  on  a  mission   to  Madagascar  and  Bahamas  using   the  clue   that  was   left  by  the   section   chief.  Using   the   clue,  Bond  was   able   to   trace  Le’   Chiffre,   a   terrorist  financier  who  has  been   involving   short-­‐selling   stock  using  his   terrorist-­‐clients’  money,   and   the   following   of   the   story   was   an   alarmingly   dangerous   and  adventurous  journey  on  hunting  Le’  Chiffre.  Similarly  goes  to  Skyfall,  where  the  story   begins   when   Bond   is   chasing   a   mercenary,   Patrice   who   has   stolen   a  pendrive   containing   details   of   undercover   agents   placed   in   terrorist  organizations.  Using  his  intelligence,  he  was  able  to  locate  Patrice.  He  then  travel  to  Shanghai  with  order   from  M,  his  boss,   to   identify  Patrice’s  employer.  Having  killed   Patrice,   Bond   was   led   to   a   casino   in   Macau   through   searching   Patrice’s  belongings.  Soon,  Bond  figured  out  that  the  mastermind  was  Silva  -­‐  A  former  MI6  officer  who  has  hatred  on  M  for  leaving  him  die  on  a  mission  years  ago.  The  rest  of  the  story  was  a  hazardous  confrontation  with  Silva  to  take  him  down.  Overall,  we  can  see   incredibly  shot  action  sequences  and  cringing  moments  going  on  in  both  movies  and  the  similarity  in  the  sequence  of  the  plot  where  he  first   found  the  accomplice,  then  the  mastermind  using  his  intelligence.        By  comparing  the  climaxes  we  could  also  find  similarities.  There  are  three  climaxes  respectively,  in  each  movie.  In  Casino  Royale,  Bond  was  poisoned  by  Le  Chiffre  and  led  him  to  a  cardiac  arrest  where  he  almost  died.  Fortunately  his  partner,  Vesper  Lynn  saved  his  life.  In  Skyfall,  Bond  was  fighting  with  Patrice  on  a  train,  and  his  partner  agent,  Eve  was  ordered  to  fire  a  distant  shot  with  a  rifle  at  Patrice,  inadvertently  shooting  Bond,  where  he  falls  into  the  river  and  gone  missing,  presumed  to  be  dead.  In  these  moments,  we  are  worrying  about  Bond  and  there  is  always  a  survival  chance  for  him.  Both  movies  went  on  another  climax,  again,  in  Casino  Royale  where  Bond  is  trying  to  stop  a  fuel  truck  that  was  planned  to  crash  an  aeroplane,  the  Skyfleet  airliner.  Same  goes  to  Skyfall,  when  Bond  tries  to  stop  Silva  when  he  attempt  to  bombard  the  tube  tunnel  in  London.  Bond  is  always  the  heroic  figure  in  the  movie  when  he  tries  to  “save-­‐the-­‐world”.  In  Casino  Royale,  the  last  climax  is  where  Bond  tries  to  save  Vesper  from  the  collapsed  building,  he  leads  us  into  a  déjà  vu  when  he  save  M  when  he  forces  his  gun  into  M's  hand,  begging  her  to  kill  them  both  In  Skyfall.          

   The  characters  as  well,  share  some  similarities  in  terms  of  the  charismas  and  characteristics,  not  by  the  appearance  itself.  For  instances,  we  can  see  M’s  calm  and  serious  manner  on  handling  affairs.  In  Casino  Royale,  when  Bond  almost  sink  into  unconsciousness,  she  urge  him  to  not  give  up  and  connect  himself  to  the  deliberator.  Likewise,  in  Skyfall,  when  she  was  being  blackmailed  by  Silva,  she  conquered  the  fear  in  her  heart  and  ordered  her  subordinates  to  find  out  the  truth.  In  addition,  we  can  see  Bond’s  loyalty  towards  M  never  ceased.  In  Casino  Royale,  M  was  angry  as 007's  violent  actions  were  caught  on  tape  at  the  embassy.  She  startled  and  lectures  him  on  proper  protocol  and  conduct.  Bond  seeks  forgiveness  from  M  and  immediately  went  for  another  mission.  In  Skyfall,  Bond’s  loyalty  to  M  is  tested  as  her  past  (Silva)  comes  back  to  haunt  her,  but  no  matter  what  M  did  to  Silva,  Bond  was  never  agitated  or  even  feel  suspicious  of  it.            Moreover,  what  fascinated  us  in  both  movies  is  actually  the  language  skill  used.  Both  films  were  originated  from  the  same-­‐title  novel  itself,  of  two  of  the  James  Bond  novel  series  written  by  two  different  British  authors.  We  can  see  that  both  movies  were  full  of  sharp  dialogue  and  connotative  conversation,  showing  the  beauty  of  traditional  British  English;  therefore  some  of  the  vocabs  are  not  relevant.  For  example,  in  Casino  Royale,  M  said  this  to  Bond:”  This  is  too  much  for  a  blunt  instrument  to  understand,  but  arrogance  and  self-­‐awareness  seldom  go  hand  in  hand.  I  want  you  take  your  ego  out  of  the  equation,  and  to  judge  the  situation  dispassionately”.  What  she  meant  was  “Bond,  maybe  you  are  not  aware  enough,  but  you  cannot  use  your  arrogance  and  own  feelings  while  handling  affairs.  I  want  you  to  take  away  your  ego  and  to  judge  the  situation  without  selfish  motives.”  Correspondingly,  when  Q,  an  agent  met  Bond  the  first  time  in  a  National  Gallery  in  Skyfall,  he  said  this  to  him  while  looking  at  a  ship  drawing:”  Always  makes  me  feel  a  little  melancholy,  a  grand  whole  warship  being  ignominiously  hauled  away  to  scrap”,  which  he  means  by  looking  at  the  ship,  he  feel  a  pensive  sadness  because  he  thinks  that  such  a  big  warship  being  tore  apart  into  wreckage  is  a  public  disgrace  and  shame.            In  conclusion,  both  movies  show  great  plots  in  terms  of  the  sequences  and  the  arrangement   of   climaxes.   Also,   the   portrayal   of   characters   plays   an   important  role  in  both  movies,  and  last  but  not  least  the  language  skills  used  in  those  sharp  dialogues   that   conveys   a   deep   intension   for   the   viewers.   These   are   the   similar  techniques   used   in   every   aspect   throughout   both   movie   and   also   the   reasons  why  both  movies  made  a  huge  success  in  the  film  industry.