I have never been much of a Hollywood person- regular readers of this blog might have guessed that by now. But, I do make it a point to watch James Bond, Indiana Jones and the like because they take you to a world that Indian movies very rarely do. I always keep track of the who the latest Bond is and which female actor was lucky enough to be his lady love. When I saw Daniel Criag playing the secret agent for the first time in Casino Royale, I thought he was quite an antithesis of what all the earlier Bond men looked like. I did like him in the movie and I thought he would be a welcome change!
Not until I caught "Quantum of Solace" in theatres. Honestly, I did not understand what was unfolding in front of me. There were car chases, boat chases, jaw dropping stunt sequences et al but where was the story line and what was the director trying to explain? Bond never introduces himself as Bond, never asks for a martini and does not even have a decent car or gadget or girl to accompany him (Bond girl, Olga Kurilonka from Ukraine is wooden. Hard core Bond fans would not even accept her as one- what is she compared to Halle Berry or Ursula Andersen?). It is good to note that the Bond girl does have a story of her own but Olga does suffer from a very weak characterization.
The villain looks gay (!) and lacks completely in personality, so much so that we can call him the weakest link in this drama. Daniel Craig himself looks lost and confused in the middle of all the mayhem happening around him. Time for a stirred Martini, my friend!
The only positive thing in this enterprise is the extra screen time given to M, played brilliantly by Dame Jodi Dench. Everything else, including Craig himself, seems a farce! Not recommended even for hard core fans...
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Bond at his worst!
I have never been much of a Hollywood person- regular readers of this blog might have guessed that by now. But, I do make it a point to watch James Bond, Indiana Jones and the like because they take you to a world that Indian movies very rarely do. I always keep track of the who the latest Bond is and which female actor was lucky enough to be his lady love. When I saw Daniel Criag playing the secret agent for the first time in Casino Royale, I thought he was quite an antithesis of what all the earlier Bond men looked like. I did like him in the movie and I thought he would be a welcome change!
Not until I caught "Quantum of Solace" in theatres. Honestly, I did not understand what was unfolding in front of me. There were car chases, boat chases, jaw dropping stunt sequences et al but where was the story line and what was the director trying to explain? Bond never introduces himself as Bond, never asks for a martini and does not even have a decent car or gadget or girl to accompany him (Bond girl, Olga Kurilonka from Ukraine is wooden. Hard core Bond fans would not even accept her as one- what is she compared to Halle Berry or Ursula Andersen?). It is good to note that the Bond girl does have a story of her own but Olga does suffer from a very weak characterization.
The villain looks gay (!) and lacks completely in personality, so much so that we can call him the weakest link in this drama. Daniel Craig himself looks lost and confused in the middle of all the mayhem happening around him. Time for a stirred Martini, my friend!
The only positive thing in this enterprise is the extra screen time given to M, played brilliantly by Dame Jodi Dench. Everything else, including Craig himself, seems a farce! Not recommended even for hard core fans...
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I personally feel that this is the James Bond that any serious fan would absolutely love.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Vodka-Martini (shaken not stirred), the fancy cars, the hot women, are all nice, but in my opinion, are a little too 'adoloscent'. Real spies are closer to what Daniel Craig brings on screen.
These are people who are normal people who are thrust into these situations, for Queen and for country. In fact, Sean Connery and more so Roger Moore made spies so glamorous that as small kids we all thought spying was cool. But kids, here's a reality check, Daniel Craig is what a real James Bond will probably be like.
I love what they have done with both the Batman franchise (with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) and with the James Bond franchise (with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace). In fact, I would go far enough to say that these franchises have been given a new birth in the last 4 yrs or so, anf for the good.
Cheers.......Jam
For me Bond has always been about style and this one unfortunately lacks in it! I would have looked at it differently had it been a spy movie that does not star James Bond! That said, no complaints about Daniel Craig and I absolutely loved Casino Royale!
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