James Bond (revisited)

Ramblings Post #204
I've come to the realization of a number of things of late. That I have a tendency to over-commit, that I like comfort and that ruts can get deep. And I have a thing for french fries. Not sure why that's relevant. I like what I like, and I don't particularly like when it changes. Unless it changes for the better, then cool. So my original premise that I don't like change makes no sense. I think I need a drink. 

 This is not a film review, sorry.

A few years ago I expressed my opinion about Daniel Craig as James Bond. Unlike his previous incarnations, this Bond was brooding and blunt force and I was little off-put by how he was much more phyiscal than cerebral.  This isn't an agent Ernest Starvos Blofeld would see as a worthy adversary.  This isn't an incarnation that could bluff Auric Goldfinger - a villain who not not only bolted Bond to a table so he could cut him in half with a laser, he didn't leave the hero to die, he hung out so he could watch! This was James Bond was somebody else.

And I  am kinda getting to like him now.

My affection for the film series was rekindled by Goldeneye, which was a return to the more lush idea of film making, one in which the story went on for long stretches without the central character inhabiting the frame. The script had teeth, and didn't appear to be just a series of stunts and set pieces with bits of conversation jammed in between. Craig's debut, Casino Royale, went deeper into that kind of dense storyline, harkening back to the character's original incarnation, where Bond had been a little rough around the edges. It grew on me.

A new kind of Bond built from the old, but with new the villains updated as well. SPECTRE probably isn't going to make into the new films, having been replaced by Quantum or whatever its called. Nor do I see SMERSH ever being used in film, originally shelved for political reasons even at the start of the film series. The old has had to fall away. And while it would be neat to have Blofeld turn out to be the real head of Quantum, I doubt that will happen. The previous connecting of the two films, the almost segue from the ending of one to the start of the other, and the smarter writing gives me hope that the story in this will just as dense in this next outing, something that doesn't happen often in film as of late. I just hope that we can get away from the grossly overused "rouge agent" storyline that has been plaguing the spy movie genre for the past decade or so.

The new pic, Skyfall may be the first film I go see in a theater in years. And understand the next two Bonds, which I believe Craig is signed on for will be done ala Kill Bill - as part of one larger meta story. It is a good time to be a Bond fan.

Barkeep. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?