I remember being a junior in high school in the Spring of 2006. During Physics class we could sometimes use the computers for whatever we wanted after we were done using them for certain tasks assigned by the teacher. I took the time to show my classmates the following promotional photo.
It was big news at the time. Especially for my age group. The last time a new James Bond was announced there really wasn't an internet to report about it. It was all in print. And my classmates and I would have been between four and six years old.
Although there were very mixed (mostly negative) opinions around the world of a blonde actor playing James Bond, I was very much in favor of Daniel Craig. I also took the time to learn things like the fact that Casino Royale was based on the very first James Bond novel, and therefore should have - at the very least - excellent source material. I knew the prior Bonds had gone a bit wrong after GoldenEye, and I knew they were rebooting it. In short, I had faith.
The prior year (2005) I had had my first truly bad experience at the movie theater. I expected Sahara to be a great adventure movie along the lines of Raiders of the Lost Ark or (to a lesser degree) 1999's The Mummy. Even though the movie wasn't that bad I really didn't like it because my expectations were so high. I knew that my expectations for Casino Royale were very high and I knew the risk I was taking, but I decided that if it didn't at least meet my high expectations then it didn't deserve to be enjoyed. By me. I'm not full of myself or anything.
Anyway the movie finally came out in my senior year and I went and saw it and it basically changed my life. Slowly but surely. First I just loved it and thought it was really great. It exceeded my expectations. Then the more it sunk in the more I realized that this one movie represented everything I love about movies. Eventually I decided it actually was my new favorite movie (beating out the life-long incumbent - Return of the Jedi)
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| the force is strong with this one |
To make a long story short, while neither Quantum of Solace nor Skyfall are as good as Casino Royale in my opinion, I love Daniel Craig as James Bond so much that my love carries over very much into his other Bond films. Despite the fact that I would have had no particular love for Quantum of Solace or Skyfall had it not been for Casino Royale.
And now there is another one coming out next year. SPECTRE. For the uninitiated, Spectre is an evil organization that has butted heads with James Bond more than once (and in more than one movie) in the past. It's been at least thirty years since a Bond film has featured Spectre. But most of the reason I am excited for Spectre is everything I have written above. I love Daniel Craig as Bond. Casino Royale is my favorite movie.
If you don't know why Andrew Scott is of interest, watch the BBC's Sherlock. If you don't know why Christoph Waltz is of interest, you're probably normal. It's because he's a very talented actor. And there are rumors that he will be playing Blofeld, the mastermind at the head of Spectre. If you don't know why Dave Bautista is of interest go see Guardians of the Galaxy. His character is an alien in that movie so it wouldn't really translate directly into the Bond universe, but his career is interesting because he's not an actor originally. He's an MMA fighter who got the role in Guardians for his physique. Besides that he's a really kind and sweet guy in real life.
As for the Bond girls, Monica Bellucci has been around for a while. Although the only film I can think of off hand is Shoot 'Em Up. I guess she's kind of B list. Léa Seydoux is hot off the critical success of a recent foreign film called Blue is the Warmest Color. She's one of the leads and it's about lesbians. It looks like a VERY inappropriate movie. We like that she's coming into the realm of "real" movies. Real movies tend to be more appropriate than independent movies because they are for the masses, not for the critics.
Another indicator of good things is that Bond 24 and Bond 25 were planned as two parts of the same story (in this era of franchises the pressure to serialize is immense) but it was later announced that that idea was scrapped. In other words, there is a God. The Bond franchise has many strong traditions, and NOT being serialized is one of those traditions.
All in all Spectre will place Daniel Craig in a tie with Pierce Brosnan for third place for number of Bond films made. Mr. Craig's original contract didn't even cover four films but it had the option for up to four films. Is this his last one? Is he too old now? The answer to those questions will only come from himself, Barbara Broccoli, and Michael G. Wilson. The important takeaway here is that this could be his last - it's possible. I have a feeling it won't be, but it could be.
In the meantime we will all look forward to November 6th, 2015 and the release of SPECTRE.
Big Shot Critic
Let's take a brief look at who is involved in Spectre.
- SAM MENDES returns to direct. This is good and bad to me. Good because Skyfall was technically beautiful and very successful, bad because he has a theater background and that was manifest in a lack of action.
- John Logan/Neal Purvis/Robert Wade return to write (sort of). Last time Neal and Robert wrote it then John did a once over. This time John wrote it and Neal and Robert did a once over. This I like because John is the very thematic one and Neal and Robert are the more experienced action writers.
- Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Wishaw, and Rory Kinnear return as James Bond, Eve Moneypenny, M, Q, and Tanner, respectively. They all did great before.
- Noted newcomers are Andrew Scott (Moriarty from the BBC's Sherlock), Christoph Waltz, and Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy). I like all three actors.
- The Bond girls are Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux. We have no opinion on them.
If you don't know why Andrew Scott is of interest, watch the BBC's Sherlock. If you don't know why Christoph Waltz is of interest, you're probably normal. It's because he's a very talented actor. And there are rumors that he will be playing Blofeld, the mastermind at the head of Spectre. If you don't know why Dave Bautista is of interest go see Guardians of the Galaxy. His character is an alien in that movie so it wouldn't really translate directly into the Bond universe, but his career is interesting because he's not an actor originally. He's an MMA fighter who got the role in Guardians for his physique. Besides that he's a really kind and sweet guy in real life.
As for the Bond girls, Monica Bellucci has been around for a while. Although the only film I can think of off hand is Shoot 'Em Up. I guess she's kind of B list. Léa Seydoux is hot off the critical success of a recent foreign film called Blue is the Warmest Color. She's one of the leads and it's about lesbians. It looks like a VERY inappropriate movie. We like that she's coming into the realm of "real" movies. Real movies tend to be more appropriate than independent movies because they are for the masses, not for the critics.
Another indicator of good things is that Bond 24 and Bond 25 were planned as two parts of the same story (in this era of franchises the pressure to serialize is immense) but it was later announced that that idea was scrapped. In other words, there is a God. The Bond franchise has many strong traditions, and NOT being serialized is one of those traditions.
All in all Spectre will place Daniel Craig in a tie with Pierce Brosnan for third place for number of Bond films made. Mr. Craig's original contract didn't even cover four films but it had the option for up to four films. Is this his last one? Is he too old now? The answer to those questions will only come from himself, Barbara Broccoli, and Michael G. Wilson. The important takeaway here is that this could be his last - it's possible. I have a feeling it won't be, but it could be.
In the meantime we will all look forward to November 6th, 2015 and the release of SPECTRE.
Big Shot Critic
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