Q's parting advice to James Bond before setting off for his retirement in "The World is Not Enough" was 1) to always have an escape plan and 2) never let them see you bleed.
It appears James Bond didn't take this advice and it has worked out for the better. Bond appeared to have wrapped up the entire series with Die Another Day's array of homages and outlandish gadgets, and most importantly, the end of Bond's contract.
But in a decade where sequels are money, Bond didn't adhere to exiting at what would have been an opportune moment. Like Batman Begins and Superman Returns, the dapper British agent got a remake. While I tend to see this later trend of reinventing franchises as a commercial ploy more than anything else, there's been a distinct change in Bond that I've come to enjoy: Mainly, the Daniel Craig incarnation of Bond is one who bleeds.
Pierce Brosnam would rip through armies of henchmen, without even messing up his hair or spotless tuxedo and frankly it was getting a little old.
The new James Bond series injects something that makes the series consequential: risk. Bond is capable of getting hurt, he feels remorse, he's capable of learning, and he's got room for improvement.
I have watched every James Bond films and I enjoy them as I do a film genre where I can see how every film deals with each of the checkpoints: Beautiful scenery, sexy girls, elaborate lairs, megalomaniacal villains, and cool-looking gadgets. I do wish Quantum of Solace had more gadgets and the villain was a little more distinctive, but I have gotten a little tired of seeing Bond bed every woman and shoot every villain just because it was some protocol for the scriptwriters to follow and it was great to see the screenwriters actually approach these issues. Furthermore, it has started to get a little jarring to see what has happened in the news with Guantanamo Bay and the Blackwater scandal to still have one of our iconic heroes on screen taking lives first and asking questions later.
So that's what Quantum of Solace bought to the table, even further expanding on the direction that Casino Royale was taking the franchise. The action occupied, perhaps, a little too much time on the screen, but it was excellently choreographed. The Bond girls were striking and exotic, Jeffery Wright nailed his role as Felix and Mattheiu Almahric does what he can with a limited role. The film also takes us to some beautiful locations: Haiti, Italy, and Bolivia. Most importantly, however, Daniel Craig gives us a Bond who feels like a real person, flesh and blood, and that is a massive improvement.
Showing posts with label Bond Villains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bond Villains. Show all posts
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Saturday, October 21, 2006
James Bond villains
I think the last four Bond films have been fascinating studies of modern forms of evil. It goes without saying that when you make a movie like James Bond you have carte blanche to make the most evil megalomaniac villain that you can think of and that since Bond is set in the real world (unlike Batman or Superman per se) the villains usually touch upon real life themes and chords:
Die Another Day was a study in relation between the West and the rest. The fact that the Korean man made himself look Caucasian and the world as well as the audience took him more seriously as a threatining villain, was a very relavent and interesting statement, to the way that the Western countries like the United States and Great Britain and Europe arrogantly treat the rest of the world with arrogance and disdain. Remember, the Korean villain said he went to Oxford and Harvard which sounded unexpected and far-fetched for someone of his stature. The Korean peninsula was a unified peaceful place before the World's superpowers came in and meddled with their affairs. There was also some underemphasized stuff with Conflict Diamonds which was the focus on last year's Lord of War and is a focus on the upcoming movie Blood Diamond.
The World is Not Enough and Tomorrow Never Dies focus on an oil baron and a media baron respectively and those are both two segments that have grown increasingly powerful over the years and the idea that in the wrong hands they would be the ultimate supervillain is intriguing. The idea of launching a nuclear war so you can have exclusive coverage to the headlines is deliciously twisting.
Goldeneye deals with a lot of the postwar Communist fallout and war brought on by oppressed ethnic minorities which is the cause of many wars today. It was a very good transition out of the Cold War setting into the idea that the new enemies are going to be wars caused by ethnic divisions.
I think the most interesting piece, however, was Live and Let Die. I read somewhere that the movie touched upon a prevalent fear at the time of black power and the potential of the newly independent countries in the Carribean to inspire particularly violent movies in Harlem and Louisiana.
Die Another Day was a study in relation between the West and the rest. The fact that the Korean man made himself look Caucasian and the world as well as the audience took him more seriously as a threatining villain, was a very relavent and interesting statement, to the way that the Western countries like the United States and Great Britain and Europe arrogantly treat the rest of the world with arrogance and disdain. Remember, the Korean villain said he went to Oxford and Harvard which sounded unexpected and far-fetched for someone of his stature. The Korean peninsula was a unified peaceful place before the World's superpowers came in and meddled with their affairs. There was also some underemphasized stuff with Conflict Diamonds which was the focus on last year's Lord of War and is a focus on the upcoming movie Blood Diamond.
The World is Not Enough and Tomorrow Never Dies focus on an oil baron and a media baron respectively and those are both two segments that have grown increasingly powerful over the years and the idea that in the wrong hands they would be the ultimate supervillain is intriguing. The idea of launching a nuclear war so you can have exclusive coverage to the headlines is deliciously twisting.
Goldeneye deals with a lot of the postwar Communist fallout and war brought on by oppressed ethnic minorities which is the cause of many wars today. It was a very good transition out of the Cold War setting into the idea that the new enemies are going to be wars caused by ethnic divisions.
I think the most interesting piece, however, was Live and Let Die. I read somewhere that the movie touched upon a prevalent fear at the time of black power and the potential of the newly independent countries in the Carribean to inspire particularly violent movies in Harlem and Louisiana.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)