Compare/Contrast Essay

1. 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.

2.
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.