11-05-2012, 10:46 PM
I agree with a lot of what El Dingo says (though Jason Stratham just wore out his welcome with Safe, which I found absolutely appalling). The early Bond movies were far more memorable. What I don’t know is whether that's because they were better or just because I saw them at a more impressionable age.
I read all the Bond novels in my teens. That's too long ago for me to remember clearly how Bond is depicted in the novels. Was he more like Sean Connery or more like Daniel Craig? I just don't know. What I do know is that the Sean Connery Bond is someone you'd love to spend time around. He is sophisticated and a great conversationalist, and he enjoys life and is capable of liking and even loving people (as well as disliking or hating villains). As for the Daniel Craig Bond, why would anyone want to hang out with him? He's little more than an automaton. His sense of humor is limited, and he'd just as soon glower away the evening than utter a single word. He's damaged goods, traumatized beyond having a normal life (essentially a Batman Bond). All he's good at is shutting out all emotion and cold-bloodedly killing people. While the Sean Connery Bond looks elegant when dressed up, and he can stroll through a room like he owns it, the Daniel Craig Bond has a certain apish aspect when suited up, and he walks like an MMA fighter. Both have great builds, but I much prefer the Sean Connery symmetrical and balanced bodybuilding build (in his prime) to Daniel Craig's top-heavy musculature. But again, I can't say which is closer to the Ian Fleming Bond.
I won't say much in specific about the actual movie Skyfall at this point. In general, it was a rather gushy love letter to Britain, almost an Olympics Part Deus in that regard. And maybe if I was a fucking Brit I'd get all fondly with myself watching it. But I'm not a bloody Brit. And patriotism freaks me out in the first place. The movie has some striking scenes in Shanghai, all fancy skyscrapers with neon everywhere, reminiscent of Bladerunner, though not quite there yet. Some striking cinematography. I wish the whole movie had taken place there. Instead, it was just one of many (perhaps too many) set pieces that, for me, didn't seem very cohesive. That's the thing. The movie wasn't cohesive enough for my tastes. I could break down why, but that would be saying too much.
I'll say one last thing. I hate stupidity in gunfights. And in Skyfall I kept getting flashbacks to those incompetent Cylons in the original Battlestar Galactica who couldn't hit the broadside of a black hole if they were inside its event horizon. And please, if you're holding a gun on someone, do not walk up to them so they can grab the barrel and disarm you. If I'm giving anything away in saying this, I'm sorry. But I'm fed up with this. No more, okay? Never again. Never! You hear me, you fucking brainless directors! Do not do this ever again! It's beyond cliché. It's unforgivable laziness. There are so many inventive ways for someone under guard to get the upper hand. Use your fucking brain!
The movie is worth seeing, by the way. Honest. Even if I didn't completely like the tea or the cup it was served in.
Fuckin' Brits.
I read all the Bond novels in my teens. That's too long ago for me to remember clearly how Bond is depicted in the novels. Was he more like Sean Connery or more like Daniel Craig? I just don't know. What I do know is that the Sean Connery Bond is someone you'd love to spend time around. He is sophisticated and a great conversationalist, and he enjoys life and is capable of liking and even loving people (as well as disliking or hating villains). As for the Daniel Craig Bond, why would anyone want to hang out with him? He's little more than an automaton. His sense of humor is limited, and he'd just as soon glower away the evening than utter a single word. He's damaged goods, traumatized beyond having a normal life (essentially a Batman Bond). All he's good at is shutting out all emotion and cold-bloodedly killing people. While the Sean Connery Bond looks elegant when dressed up, and he can stroll through a room like he owns it, the Daniel Craig Bond has a certain apish aspect when suited up, and he walks like an MMA fighter. Both have great builds, but I much prefer the Sean Connery symmetrical and balanced bodybuilding build (in his prime) to Daniel Craig's top-heavy musculature. But again, I can't say which is closer to the Ian Fleming Bond.
I won't say much in specific about the actual movie Skyfall at this point. In general, it was a rather gushy love letter to Britain, almost an Olympics Part Deus in that regard. And maybe if I was a fucking Brit I'd get all fondly with myself watching it. But I'm not a bloody Brit. And patriotism freaks me out in the first place. The movie has some striking scenes in Shanghai, all fancy skyscrapers with neon everywhere, reminiscent of Bladerunner, though not quite there yet. Some striking cinematography. I wish the whole movie had taken place there. Instead, it was just one of many (perhaps too many) set pieces that, for me, didn't seem very cohesive. That's the thing. The movie wasn't cohesive enough for my tastes. I could break down why, but that would be saying too much.
I'll say one last thing. I hate stupidity in gunfights. And in Skyfall I kept getting flashbacks to those incompetent Cylons in the original Battlestar Galactica who couldn't hit the broadside of a black hole if they were inside its event horizon. And please, if you're holding a gun on someone, do not walk up to them so they can grab the barrel and disarm you. If I'm giving anything away in saying this, I'm sorry. But I'm fed up with this. No more, okay? Never again. Never! You hear me, you fucking brainless directors! Do not do this ever again! It's beyond cliché. It's unforgivable laziness. There are so many inventive ways for someone under guard to get the upper hand. Use your fucking brain!
The movie is worth seeing, by the way. Honest. Even if I didn't completely like the tea or the cup it was served in.
Fuckin' Brits.