As good as CASINO ROYALE is, it’s not until the Bond films hits QUANTUM OF SOLACE that you realize how far the franchise has moved from the depths of camp and satire that had permeated its skin and rotted out its bones.
James Bond has been fleshed out from just a wise cracking, smooth talking brit spy. Now he has motivation and hidden depths and you start to wonder if maybe those endless martinis are indicative of a larger problem than just maintaining a playboy lifestyle.
And the whole visual look and structure of the films have changed as well. They've injected flashes of art and directorly auterism into Bond's perpetual smarmy grin. Suddenly the flashy teenager has grown up and realized that its substance that audiences want and not just endless adolescent hijinks.
My greatest concern is that the series will regress, that gradually more and more of the comic elements will be reinserted back into the franchise as individual directors try and recreate the Bond of their youth.
My hope is that the brains behind the franchise can keep the nu real world aesthetic of the films going long enough that it becomes the default tone of the films.
I kinda miss the campyness of the old films. :( Connery is by far my favorite, and if I want a darker story I want the few Daltons that are floating around.
ReplyDeleteLoved Casino Royale, possibly because I'm a total sucker for haute couture and well dressed peeps. but Quantum of Solace? Sat through it twice and still can't tell you the plot of the movie. I've enjoyed Daniel Craig in everything I've seen him in, and do enjoy him as Bond, but still. :(
Agree. both CR and QOS are excellent entries that hearken more to the source material. Aside from being set in the 1960's Flemings' original books are much more visceral and brutal and less campy than the early movies portray.
ReplyDeleteI also hope that the movies continue in this smart vein...and with Mendes at the helm of SKYFALL I think it's safe to say it will.
@Red: QUANTUM is not really a Bond film standalone, and is instead kind of a direct sequel to CASINO ROYALE dealing mostly with Bond and how screwed over he got by his relationship with Vesper. In fact I think it was Warren Ellis who pointed out that in CR the gender roles are flipped. Bond is the Bond girl...up to and including walking out of the water on the beach dripping wet...and Vesper is the all-knowing spy who seduces him. It's the opposite of classic Bond and that's what makes it most compelling. Then you chase it with QOS which is basically all about Bond dealing with the aftermath of that and becoming what Vesper was in CR, cold, calculating and heart no open to anyone. If you watch it for that aspect I think that is what they were attempting to portray. Less of a coherent spy story and more of a direct sequel, finale to CR.
ReplyDeletegood advice. I'm sure it's obvious the two movies are one long story, but I've always treated them as stand alones, which explains why QoS hasn't worked as well for me. Next time I watch them, I'll do a marathon and watch them one right after the other, I bet it will improve my experience.
ReplyDeleteIt might not, I could very well be talking directly out of my ass. LOL
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