Bond. New Bond
Yup, it's official. There's a new James Bond but with the fanfare comes some negative fan-blare about actor Daniel Craig and more than a few are getting down right stroppy about the next film's content.
According to remarks made by Casino Royale screenwriter Paul Haggis last month at the Toronto Film Fest, MI6 gadget maker Q, most recently played by John Cleese, will not appear in the film. It will be the first absence of Q since Live and Let Die.Something like this was due, not because of timing, rather because the films were starting to get ridiculous. The Roger Moore era was abysmal and the Pierce Brosnan films started poaching in that territory with the last release. In between, the Timothy Dalton entries that disappointed many but thrilled me. Dalton was a darker Sean Connery - suave and manly in all the right ways; realistic with a touch of gee-whizzery; human, but able to go above when needed.
"We're trying to reinvent Bond. He's 28. No Q, no gadgets," Haggis said, adding the new installment is "trying to do for Bond what Batman Begins did for Batman."
The news of a Q-less, gadget-less movie did not appeal to some of the franchise's most loyal devotees.
"No gadgets or Q, eh? Why not get rid of the theme music, the cars, girls, and vodka martinis as well?" asked a poster to the MI6.co.uk fan forum. "In fact, why not just jettison all the factors that make Bond movies...well, Bond movies, and start a whole new franchise with characters and situations which no longer have anything to do with what we've come to know and love over the past 40 years, let alone Fleming's original novels."
Further roiling the sensibilities of fans was Wilson's statement Friday that Moneypenny will also not be featured in the movie, though M will return. However, it was not confirmed whether Dame Judi Dench will play the spy chief.
Director Martin Campbell said that Casino Royale will reveal a darker, colder side of 007. (source)
For your consideration:
- BBC News "Daniel Craig: Our Friend in MI6"
- Bond in Pictures
- Absolutely Bond
- Casino Royale at IMDB
Something like this was due, not because of timing, rather because the films were starting to get ridiculous.
The Bond films have occasionally been ridiculous since the first one - DR. NO. I know that I'm not particularly a fan of that near travesty . . . or the artistic travesty known as GOLDFINGER.
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6:07 PM EDT