I'm still getting used to this "gritty" James Bond, even though I really liked "Casino Royale". Daniel Craig is a great actor, and does fine work here, but the movie felt flat. You have to remember and care what happened in the last movie for much of this to make sense. There's a lot about trust between Bond and M. And a plot about water supply that was neither a surprise nor really resolved--I expect it to continue in the next movie, so I'll have to try not to forget what happened here. Unfortunately, that might be kind of difficult.
Also, along with the "gritty" look the Bond franchise has officially fallen pray to the "shaky-cam" action scene cliche. I miss action movies where you could actually follow the action. A good filmmaker can convey that a scene is exciting without shaking the camera around like a drunk baboon.
4 comments:
Quantum of Solace is entertaining at least... a lot of high quality visuals, but the movie as a whole could stand to lose six or seven fewer chase scenes
Not the usual Bond from the past - but good acting, good action, good entertainment
Well, it took me a couple of days before it dawned on me what was wrong with the new Bond. He's the gritty Bond, not the cool Bond--and this is a bad thing (or will be, if it continues too far).
Bond is the epitome of the guy that every woman wants and every man wants to be. I can't speak for the ladies (do you still want him?), but I can say that I no longer want to be him. And it's not because I've grown up, it's because being gritty bond is painful.
Cool Bond deftly sidesteps firefights by a combination of cunning, charm, and Q's gadgets. Gritty Bond throws the first punch. This was easily excusable in "Casino Royale" because it was presented as an origins story, Bond learning to be Bond (but don't get started on the continuity issues with keeping dame Judie Dench in the role of M). In fact, it was more than excusable, that was a lot of the fun of the movie (e.g., not caring if his martini is shaken or stirred made me laugh). Some of that can carry over into this movie, but he better learn to be cool Bond in the next movie. And there's some signs of that in the end of Quantum of Solace.
Funny you should be disecting Quantum. Kevin and I went to see it yesterday (Sunday). And being the smart folks we were, I got a copy of Casino Royale (no, not the one with David Niven and Ursula Andress!)and watched it the night before on my 8' screen in very loud surround sound. So we were set up well for the beginning of Quantum. I think that was a "must" as my tiny brain had forgotten some of CR. Anyhow, we both came away from the film feeling that it was lacking. And we seemed to come to the same conclusion. The "new" Bond is not a sophiticated agent. He's much more of a 'gritty' (as you say) Bond. We both thought that his actions outstripped the later Bond's ability to just be a very cool dude. I'll go for coolness and avoidance of unnecessary violence and more reliance on gadgets. That said, it's always difficult to go back and do an "origins" story arc...you tend to compare to later episodes. So I think you did kind of hit it on the head Jason...this is the Bond before he became the sophisticated agent he is today. Let's just hope that it doesn't take anymore episodes to get to the "real" Bond. Less action, more suaveness.
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