Bryce Zabel's MOVIE SMACKDOWN!

Quantum of Solace (2008) -vs- Casino Royale (2006)

The Smackdown.  It's the longest running movie franchise in the history of the world.  In total, it has grossed billions worldwide, surpassing perhaps the gross domestic product of many small nations.  In 1964, James Bond skulked from the hard-boiled cynicism of Ian Fleming's novels onto the Silver Screen, introducing the world to their Favorite Super Spy.  Yet time was unkind to the Bond franchise, and the films descended into stale parodies of themselves, straying further from not only Sean Connery's iconic debut but also the fascinating, amoral spy of Fleming's novels.  Then came "Casino Royale" and Daniel Craig.  With Daniel Craig, Bond found his relevance again, and his heart.  Today, facing high expectations in the wake of "Casino Royale", "Quantum of Solace" has stirred up violent controversy as to its quality against "Casino Royale."  Today, we let the newest Bond go up against the last Bond, trying to put what has become something of a media field day to rest.

The Challenger.  "Quantum of Solace" arrives under the direction of Mark Forster, scripted by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis.  The movie is a somber epilogue to "Casino Royale", with a betrayed and bitter Bond viciously hunting the mysterious organization behind his former lover's demise. Bond is largely unforgiving, a force that is at times both brutal and surgical.  As he nears the organization (named Quantum), Bond finds himself in the middle of a South American coup de tat, underscored by an oddly realistic attempt to horde the world's water supply.  Incorporating elegance and taste with the typical tropes of Bond, "Quantum of Solace" is a lean--if somewhat too short--depiction of a Bond that finds a cold place for Double-O Seven in the modern world.

Casino Royale (2006) -vs- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

The Smackdown.  Nobody ever forgets their first time.  And get your mind out of the gutter, I'm talking about James Bond and what it takes for an actor to play him on an initial outing.

James Bond has a long franchise of adaptations, interpretations, and revitalizations spanning nearly fifty years.  With such a lineage, it's only natural that there'll be some intra-family rivalry.  Today we put up two highly-touted revampings designed to help Bond fans overcome two of the most popular actors to depict James Bond: Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. 

On Her Majesty's Secret Service attempted to co-opt the loyalty of Bond fans by paying respect to Ian Fleming's original stories beyond just their titles, and of course sliding in newcomer George Lazenby as Bond... James Bond.  Casino Royale did much the same, using an orthodox choice in Daniel Craig to return to source material while retooling Bond for Jason Bourne-style audiences.  While Daniel Craig's Bond is certainly meaner and tougher, can this blond-haired Bond match up against the man better known as the post-Connery Bond?  Which one makes good on their promise to decrypt Double-O Seven and break territory ignored by previous Bond formulas?

The Challenger.  Fans felt there'd be no dying another day for the Bond franchise after Pierce Brosnan's last Bond outing in the overwrought and cheesy Die Another Day.  Faced with serious spy thrillers like Alias and The Bourne Identity, producers scrambled back to Ian Fleming and his first Bond novel, "Casino Royale." Daniel Craig, "the new guy," sparked hell among fans for his demeanor, blond-hair, and overall scruffy appearance.  Introducing the legendary spy at the beginning of his career, Casino Royale pits a cocky and inexperienced Bond against the poker-playing banker of the world's terrorists, Le Chiffre.  Although adding entire sequences and ideas absent in Fleming's novel, the film stays loyal to the novel in that Bond learns a harsh lesson from too easily trusting, and loving, a beautiful colleague in this high-stakes thriller.

Body of Lies (2008) -vs- Blood Diamond (2006)

Leo as a Man of Action

The Smackdown.  Given his humble beginnings as a kid doing TV sitcoms like "Growing Pains," it's extraordinary to be writing about two huge-budget films where Leonardo DiCaprio is an action hero, but that's where we are.  Nobody thought the economy would be in the shape it is, either, so life is full of surprises.  In any case, both the Middle-East flavored "Body of Lies" and the Sierra Leone-based drama "Blood Diamond" are different kinds of thrillers, uniquely suited to DiCaprio's screen presence.  They're both thoughtful, smart films where the main character is a conflicted guy who finds himself in the middle of a situation that requires all his skills just to stay alive, let alone to figure out how to be a good guy or if he even wants to.  DiCaprio against DiCaprio in a rumble where bullets fly and f-bombs drop.

The Challenger.  "Body of Lies" is the latest film from super-director Ridley Scott who lately seems to be fascinated by the Middle East and our role in it.  In this film, DiCaprio plays Roger Ferris, a CIA operative with a bullet (as in, rising star) who's trying to track down a bin Laden-type named al-Saleem.  He's out there in the field nearly getting killed on a daily basis while Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) lives a suburban life back in America where he, literally, phones it in to Ferris out in the field. The theme of the film seems to be deception: how you can let the deception that is part of your job bleed into your life, and that, ultimately, nobody is innocent.  The screenplay was written by William Monahan ("The Departed") working from a book written by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.

Ghost Town (2008) -vs- Ghost (1990)

Boo-Who?

The Smackdown. People like the idea of the dead communicating with the living. It’s comforting (if borderline creepy) to imagine that our departed are somehow lingering, intact-looking ghosts sticking around until they’re finished with their earthly (mostly corny) unfinished business. It’s romantic to imagine that love never truly dies, that somehow, even after death, we don’t part. Two films almost two decades apart interpret this sappy Halloween-worthy theme in remarkably different ways. Potters wheel in one corner, dentist’s drill in another.  May the best prop win.

The Challenger.  Ricky Gervais, the British comic genius behind classic series "The Office" and "Extras," joins forces with two other television comedy veterans, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear in surprisingly effective if convoluted romantic comedy, "Ghost Town."  After a brush with death, Gervais can see dead people, a fact made all the more remarkable since before his brush with death, he barely noticed the living.

Ghost Town (2008) -vs- The Sixth Sense (1999)

Seeing Dead People

The Smackdown. Audiences are primed for a good laugh because economic instability and the upcoming elections just aren't doing it. Will we get it with the release of "Ghost Town?"  This comedy of the dead and near-dead serves up a larger slice of British comic Ricky Gervais. For most Americans he cemented his reputation writing and appearing in "Extras" and the import version of "The Office." He's a welcome face on the talk shows.

"Ghost Town" carries a tag line that says "He sees dead people.. and they annoy him." It invites an inevitable Smackdown! with the recent champ of ghostly cinema, "The Sixth Sense." This worldwide hit from 1999 is oddly similar to the challenger: Both begin with a shock and both deal with second chances. This Smackdown! asks how we prefer our ghosts -- for laughs or for gasps?

The Challenger. Bertrum Pincus is the co-worker from hell, the neighbor so foul you want to drop a house on him. In "Ghost Town" there is no pleasantry he does not poison, no good deed that goes unpunished by this supremely self-absorbed Manhattan dentist. Pincus receives an unwanted gift after he temporarily dies during a routine medical procedure: He can see dead people, they can see him and they all want something. Chief among these is his upstairs neighbor, Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) who managed to avoid a falling room air conditioner, but not a passing bus. "New York is lousy with ghosts," he says. Frank wants Pincus to break up the impending marriage of his widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni); the rest of the dead have errands they want Pincus to perform. In exchange, they'll disappear. Bertrum finally caves in, more from a desire to be left alone than altruism. The script from John Kamps and director David Koepp aims Pincus down a different path. Along the way he discovers Gwen's fiance is not a "scumbag lawyer," that Gwen deserved much better from Frank and the dead  --  like the living  --  have unfinished business.