I had some small change to waste, so I went to a local op shop and bought some James Bond DVDs. They were Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, the first three Daniel Craig Bonds. I recalled the first one being very good, the other two a bit so-so. I decided I was going to get the other two, Spectre and No Time To Die, and have a Daniel Craig James Bond marathon over the coming weeks. It made sense as all the films are connected in their storyline and character development. I remembered being confused as I watched each instalment because I hadn’t re-watched the previous film and thus, over the years of each film’s production, forgot much of the plot and what was happening with the characters. Like, at the start of Spectre, what happened to Judy Dench‘s M? Oh, that’s right, she got killed at the end of Skyfall. Ralph Fiennes is the new M! Now that I’ve seen them all in short order I can better grasp what the producers and film makers were going for, see the themes they were touching on and so forth. I think the over-arching story’s a bit of a mess – more a peg to hang a bunch of action sequences and exotic settings on – so I don’t think about it much. But the cliff notes are: each film introduces a baddie, including Le Chiffre, Dominic Green and Silva, which leads to the reveal in Spectre that they are all agents or supporters of an organization called Spectre, lead by Blofeld. In the final film most of the Spectre agents, including Blofeld, are wiped out by Safin, who’s entire family was murdered by Spectre agent Mr White and is hell bent on revenge. The character development, especially for this Bond, is where the real gold is. It’s quite an emotional journey he goes on. The films are quite variable in quality but they are all amazingly entertaining. As I say elsewhere here, I think the Bond franchise is the greatest franchise in film history. Here’s where I place the films from first to last. Many will disagree with me!
- Casino Royale
- No Time To Die
- Spectre
- Quantum of Solace
- Skyfall
Casino Royale
I watched Casino Royale. It’s still very good! I read the book a little while ago and it’s interesting to note that the film only starts using the original Ian Fleming story about half way through the film, when Bond goes to the casino of the film’s title. The shenanigans that go on during the big poker tournament are pretty epic. Mads Mikkelsen‘s Le Chiffre baddie is all flop-sweat and bleeding eyes, and evil, evil. Eva Green as the iconic Vesper Lynd is believable as Bond’s great love. When she is kidnapped by Le Chiffre, the car chase, crash and torture scenes that follow are fantastic. Interesting to note, the torture scene was also in the novel. The Mr White character, who eventually takes Le Chiffre’s money, seemed like such an innocuous character, but he comes back several times in the series. As the first film in the series we didn’t know just how important he would be – or just how long it would take for Bond to get over Vesper (if he ever does). There was no immediate reboot with the next film – Bond’s wounds were left open. There was so much good stuff here. Craig was such a good Bond. Probably my second favourite to Sean Connery.
I watched some of the extra material on the Casino Royale dvd. This was the music video for Chris Cornell’s song You Know My Name and the documentary about the making of the film. The Cornell song was pretty good and Chris looked quite young and healthy in it. Hard to believe he would die just eleven years later. The doco was interesting for the footage of the stunt guys jumping off those cranes during the chase at the start of the film. They actually did that (albeit with safety harnesses)! The car crash scene was also pretty epic. The car turned over seven times, which turned out to be a world record. The amount of planning and preparation that went into the film was impressive. No wonder it came out so well.
I also watched a nice doco that came with Casino Royale called Bond Girls Are Forever. It was hosted and narrated by Maryam d’Abo, one of the Bond girls, and featured many of the actresses who had played them and their thoughts about the experience. They all seemed to have some affection for the roles they played, whilst being aware how ornamental most of those roles were. The role was an endless struggling for assertiveness, which mostly failed at the hands of the relentlessly chauvinistic Bond. Roger Moore’s Bond in Live and Let Die gets the nod for the biggest bastard when he seduces the virginal Solitaire, played by Jane Seymour, with the help of a trick set of Tarot cards, all featuring The Lovers.
Quantum of Solace
I watched the James Bond film Quantum of Solace today. It was much better than I remembered it – at least what I remembered of it, which was very little. It helped that I was watching with subtitles and was able to catch the rapid exposition that clued me in that this was a continuation of the first film, Casino Royale. This was a bold move on the part of the Bond people. One reviewer, Matt, on Letterboxd suggested it was ‘a fever dream On Her Majesty’s Secret Service sequel we never got’. Rather than gold, this time out we get a woman covered in oil. Jack White and Alicia Keys supply the theme song that I believe was offered first to Amy Winehouse, who was too incapacitated to participate. Director Marc Foster likes to cross-cut the action in one scene with the action from somewhere else, as in the scene where Bond chases an M16 mole whilst a chaotic horse race is going on nearby. A little rushed and convoluted in its story telling (some might say efficient) but a solid outing. Bond’s revenge upon those who drove Vesper to her suicide in Casino Royale seems well-earned. I gave it three and a half stars on Letterboxd. My review also included the observation, ‘Best film franchise ever’, and I stand by that.
Skyfall
Watched the Bond film Skyfall , the third in the Daniel Craig sequence that I’m doing. One of the stupidest stories ever for a Bond film, but some great action scenes. The entire opening, especially the bike ride across the roofs of the Istanbul market, was amazing. And Bond isn’t wearing a helmet, so it actually looks like Daniel Craig is riding the bike. I liked that Bond shows concern for one of his fallen comrades in the first scene, which is taken up later when he asks M if he ‘made it’ (he didn’t). A rare show of warmth and humanity for him. Javiar Bardem as the baddie Silver is great. His introduction as he walks slowly towards a tied up Bond (and us) with the story about the rats is classic. The home-erotic overtones of this scene were nicely delivered. And the scene where he reveals the effects of his cyanide poisoning, oh my god…Main problem is the story and character motivations. Silver wants to kill M for betraying him when he was a double-o agent working for her years before. But his method of doing it is so convoluted and ludicrous, even though it drives the entire story. It all hinges on Bond following Silver’s bread crumbs, being manipulated by him almost till the end. But there’s not way Silver could anticipate all the things Bond does. After Bond foils Silver’s attempt to kill M during a government hearing into MI6 (a fun scene where some of the operatives, Moneypenny and M’s male successor played by Ralph Fiennes in particular, show their in-field training) Bond whisks her off to the old family mansion in Scotland. Presumably this is to protect her, but he then has the new Q (played by Ben Wishaw) leave a trail for Silver to find them. What? Did I miss something? So, a stupid story, but still a solid Bond overall. I gave it three and a half stars on Letterboxd.
Spectre
Watched the fourth of the Daniel Craig Bonds, Spectre, from my dinky new tinbox bluray edition. The opening sequence in Mexico City for Day of the Dead is pretty wow, as is the helicopter fight above the crowds in the square. The story is basically a treasure hunt, with Bond chasing clues to eventually confront the head of the Spectre organisation, Blofeld, who is also a childhood ‘friend’. Christopher Waltz seems to be channelling some of the earlier Bond villains (who include the earlier Blofeld) in his updated portrayal of Blofeld. He even still has the fluffy white cat mascot. Maybe there’s some Mike Myers Austin Powers in there too. One of the Bond girls is played by Monica Bellucci, and she is severely underused, and misused. Her widow character no sooner discovers Bond has killed her husband then she’s having sex with him. It doesn’t say much for her marriage. And we see she’s wearing suspenders and stockings under her black mourning dress. What widow does this? The film’s other Bond Girl, played by Lea Seydoux, fares much better, with more screen time, a back story and a chance to kick some arse. But there’s still the obligatory sex scene with Bond when they’re all pent up after a fight with a major baddie on a train. What’s the age difference between them, anyway? The story gets a little cock-eyed by the end, with Bond shooting down a helicopter with his little Walther PPK gun (from a moving speedboat, yet) and a pretty boring denouement for the villain, Blofeld (Bond to M: ‘Book him, Danno’ – or something like that). Despite that, this was a pretty solid Bond film with some nice opportunities for the support cast, like Ralph Fiennes as M and Ben Wishaw as Q to expand their characters. Based on this viewing I lifted my rating from three and a half to four on Letterboxd.
No Time To Die
I watched the last of the Daniel Craig Bond movies, No Time to Die, tonight. It was straight after the fourth one, which seemed like a good idea as they do follow each other narratively. I remembered watching this one back during Covid in 2021. I think I might have been wearing a mask in the cinema. But there’s no sign of Covid in the film, apart from the fact the lead baddie in this one, Safin, played by Rami Malek, is hell bent on killing people with a DNA toxin that can be passed by touch. The film starts with Bond still out of M16 enjoying leisure time with Madeleine in Italy when Blofeld’s henchmen try to kill him again. He takes it as a sign he has to part from the mysterious Madeleine (and she has ‘secrets’), although he loves her, so he does. After the title sequence, there’s a five-year jump and we find Bond lying low in Jamaica, and the Safin toxin storyline gets into motion with the help of Bond’s old pal Felix Leitner, who recruits him for the CIA. Meanwhile, M16 has given Bonds old 007 designation to a new agent, a woman called Nomi. There’s a lot of plot from here and I won’t bother detailing it.
I really enjoyed the sequence set in Cuba, where Bond and a new kickass female Cuban agent called Paloma, played by Ana de Armas, infiltrate a Spectre party to get at the scientist who developed the toxin. At least half the reviews I read for this wanted Armas to play the next new Bond or at least do a Palomo spinoff. I have to say, I agree with them. She’s sensational in her low-cut red dress kicking bad guy arse, then sharing a drink with Bond amidst the carnage. Not having met her before, he pronounces her performance at the end of it as ‘Excellent’.
The story and the lead baddie have their faults (I definitely had issues with the finale, which I won’t go into here) but they’re never really the point of these films. They’re just the McGuffin that allow for all the spectacular action, settings and violent set pieces. This is what Bond has always been about. I liked that this one brought back the bad puns for Bond to utter in the middle of chaos. It felt a little more old-school because of that. It was a surprising way for Craig to go out, but a satisfying one. After these I’m putting him at Number Two in my favourite Bonds list (guess who’s number one). I think making all five of his films connected in story and character development was a brilliant idea.