Post by DTH on Dec 12, 2008 5:44:57 GMT -5
Dun der der dun dun dun
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Dun Dun Der der! Der der!
Sean Connery. Roger Moore. Pierce Brosnen. Those other guys and now Daniel Craig. Only Batman can boast having such a range of accomplished actors playing the role.
Who are they? Bond, James Bond, that's bl**dy who!
To we Brits, Bond is pretty much as big a national treasure as the Queen. I mean, we just love to drink Earl Grey from our 007 cups while driving our Aston Martin's round the countryside. What what.
Considering that, its pretty much a given that we'll be seeing Bond movies even when we're driving to work in our flying cars and taking holidays on the moon.
The only problem is that there are only so many stories written by Ian Fleming and they're all pretty much exhausted. So, as it stands now, the Bond movies we tend to see are completely fresh creations. This leads to some movies being..."less Bond" than others, if you get my meaning,
Plus, with the changes in what modern audiences expect from movies, I can totally understand why some contemporary Bond movies don't really capture the essence of Bond like others. Bond!
Living Daylights and Tomorrow Never Dies are good examples, to me, of good movies that are bad Bond movies.
Unfortunately, Daniel Craig's first Bond film, Casino Royale is another. But it can be forgiven for reasons I will go in to later.
Daniel Craig returns for Quantum of Solace and I am psyched to report that, yes, Bond is Back! Almost.
QoS follows on from events in Casino Royale wherein Bond fell for a woman who was trying to subvert him and ended up betraying Bond (and then sacrificing herself to save him, women!). Bond is understandably upset.
In QoS, he wants revenge on the people who set the whole thing up. He travels around the world, following lead after lead while MI6 try to bring him in. Then stuff happens, people explode, you know the drill.
QoS is a great film and it almost succeeds in being a great Bond film. It has it all: international conspiracies, secret organisations, pretty women with silly names that whip their underwear off just because Mr Bond looks at them, action, suspense and copious amounts of violence. And I must point out that there were several points where I thought to myself "Wow, that was a great [directorial] shot!".
So with all that, how does it fail to be a great James Bond film? Simple: the Bond we see in these movies hasn't quite made the transition to the Bond we all know and love.
The real Bond can simultaneously sleep with a woman, kill 15 bad guys and drink a martini all while making flippant quips as he goes. While he's a man of considerable talents, he's also a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
Daniel Craig's Bond is very serious and focused on the task at hand. Yes, he makes a few quips, sleeps with a woman with a silly name and kills a few guys without blinking but he doesn't look he's enjoying himself while doing it. That's the key difference.
Now, the reason for this and why we can forgive these films for not being totally Bond is, as I am reliably informed, that CR and QoS form part of a trilogy showing how Bond starts out as a "normal" agent and becomes the urbane, part-time psychopath, Bond, James Bond.
The current producers of Bond took the decision to reset the Bond franchise with the exit of Brosnan (my favourite Bond) and establish the series for a more modern audience, who want a bit more realism to their movies.
Rather than having a Bond who is blaise to the whole "Kill the bad guy, sleep with the girl" shtick, we get a Bond who has yet to lose his morals and become the psychopathic super agent he becomes in, say, any of the previous Bond movies...
Similar to Batman Begins and The Incredible Hulk, they don't ignore the existing movies or claim in anyway that they are invalid but they just kind of get on with telling a different story.
So if Bond isn't quite himself yet, there's a very good reason.
QoS is a great movie and I really enjoyed watching it. I wasn't sure sitting down that I would, given that Casino Royale felt more like a Bourne movie than Bond. But when Jack White and Alicia Keys started singing and the silhouettes of naked ladies started dancing round the screen, I knew that Bond was back. Almost...
I have faith that the current producers of Bond know what they are doing and that the next installment will be something special. Given that and Daniel Craig's proven acting ability, I have no fear that James Bond Will Return...
Dun der der dun dun dun
Dun der der dun dun dun
Dun Dun Der der! Der der!
Sean Connery. Roger Moore. Pierce Brosnen. Those other guys and now Daniel Craig. Only Batman can boast having such a range of accomplished actors playing the role.
Who are they? Bond, James Bond, that's bl**dy who!
To we Brits, Bond is pretty much as big a national treasure as the Queen. I mean, we just love to drink Earl Grey from our 007 cups while driving our Aston Martin's round the countryside. What what.
Considering that, its pretty much a given that we'll be seeing Bond movies even when we're driving to work in our flying cars and taking holidays on the moon.
The only problem is that there are only so many stories written by Ian Fleming and they're all pretty much exhausted. So, as it stands now, the Bond movies we tend to see are completely fresh creations. This leads to some movies being..."less Bond" than others, if you get my meaning,
Plus, with the changes in what modern audiences expect from movies, I can totally understand why some contemporary Bond movies don't really capture the essence of Bond like others. Bond!
Living Daylights and Tomorrow Never Dies are good examples, to me, of good movies that are bad Bond movies.
Unfortunately, Daniel Craig's first Bond film, Casino Royale is another. But it can be forgiven for reasons I will go in to later.
Daniel Craig returns for Quantum of Solace and I am psyched to report that, yes, Bond is Back! Almost.
QoS follows on from events in Casino Royale wherein Bond fell for a woman who was trying to subvert him and ended up betraying Bond (and then sacrificing herself to save him, women!). Bond is understandably upset.
In QoS, he wants revenge on the people who set the whole thing up. He travels around the world, following lead after lead while MI6 try to bring him in. Then stuff happens, people explode, you know the drill.
QoS is a great film and it almost succeeds in being a great Bond film. It has it all: international conspiracies, secret organisations, pretty women with silly names that whip their underwear off just because Mr Bond looks at them, action, suspense and copious amounts of violence. And I must point out that there were several points where I thought to myself "Wow, that was a great [directorial] shot!".
So with all that, how does it fail to be a great James Bond film? Simple: the Bond we see in these movies hasn't quite made the transition to the Bond we all know and love.
The real Bond can simultaneously sleep with a woman, kill 15 bad guys and drink a martini all while making flippant quips as he goes. While he's a man of considerable talents, he's also a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
Daniel Craig's Bond is very serious and focused on the task at hand. Yes, he makes a few quips, sleeps with a woman with a silly name and kills a few guys without blinking but he doesn't look he's enjoying himself while doing it. That's the key difference.
Now, the reason for this and why we can forgive these films for not being totally Bond is, as I am reliably informed, that CR and QoS form part of a trilogy showing how Bond starts out as a "normal" agent and becomes the urbane, part-time psychopath, Bond, James Bond.
The current producers of Bond took the decision to reset the Bond franchise with the exit of Brosnan (my favourite Bond) and establish the series for a more modern audience, who want a bit more realism to their movies.
Rather than having a Bond who is blaise to the whole "Kill the bad guy, sleep with the girl" shtick, we get a Bond who has yet to lose his morals and become the psychopathic super agent he becomes in, say, any of the previous Bond movies...
Similar to Batman Begins and The Incredible Hulk, they don't ignore the existing movies or claim in anyway that they are invalid but they just kind of get on with telling a different story.
So if Bond isn't quite himself yet, there's a very good reason.
QoS is a great movie and I really enjoyed watching it. I wasn't sure sitting down that I would, given that Casino Royale felt more like a Bourne movie than Bond. But when Jack White and Alicia Keys started singing and the silhouettes of naked ladies started dancing round the screen, I knew that Bond was back. Almost...
I have faith that the current producers of Bond know what they are doing and that the next installment will be something special. Given that and Daniel Craig's proven acting ability, I have no fear that James Bond Will Return...
