This One's for the Impatient Bond Fans
Learn patience and you may find yourself enjoying life more
Steve over at Collider just sent over a nice little interview nugget he got out of Daniel Craig during this weekend's Defiance junket of which I was invited to, but the fact it is held in a hotel room on the other side of the United States posed a problem. What can you do?
The conversation turned to the future of James Bond, natch, and Craig was asked if Quantum of Solace was a set-up for a trilogy of films with the next installment serving as Craig's third and final film. Craig was quick to dismiss the idea saying, "No fucking way. I'm done with that story. I want to lie on a beach for the first half an hour of the next movie drinking a cocktail." An obviouse joke at the end there, but I, for one, am happy to hear Craig has no intention of leaving the character after the third film as he obviously seems comfortable in the super-spy's shoes.
The conversation then diverts to the naysayers complaining of a lack of gadgets and screwball scenarios in Quantum, and issue I addressed at length about three weeks ago.
"We've finished this story as far as I'm concerned," Craig said, leading me to believe he is satisfied that the origins of Bond as a character are firmly established allowing the filmmakers time to now dig into the history of MI6 and then some. "We've got a great set of bad guys. There is an organization that we can use whenever we want to. The relationship between Bond and M is secure and Felix is secure. Let's try and find where Moneypenny came from and where Q comes from. Let's do all that and have some fun with it."
From what I gathered by so many of the folks complaining about Quantum of Solace is that it didn't have much of a plot, there were no gadgets and Bond didn't brazenly fornicate enough. As for the plot argument, hardly any Bond has much of plot outside of bad guy doing bad things and Bond needs to stop him. I guess the more cerebral approach to Bond's emotions is what lost some people looking for dumb action, but that is actually what intrigued me more than anything.
As for the gadgets and the fornicating… Gadgets were a major complaint by many after Die Another Day as people wanted a more Bourne-like approach – they got it and complained, go figure. And to the ladies, Bond is always down for a good shag session, just hope you don't get drowned in oil afterward.
If Quantum of Solace had included Bond screwing Camille (Olga Kurylenko) upon meeting here and then once at the end of the film as well as introduced Q and branded Bond with a bunch of goofy gadgets it would have lost the edge it deserved following the ending of Casino Royale. Now with Bond at relative peace with death of Vesper, back in M's good graces and ready to womanize the Bond you know is coming. Tossing the kitchen sink at Quantum would have destroyed it entirely, but we can now get a taste of everything that led to Connery's Bond, just imagine the possibilities.
Have patience Bond fans, if you get it all at once what is left for future adventures other than more of the same? That's how we ended up with The World is Not Enough.
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This is a great article. If only all the public were like you. Nobody seems to have the patience to see what they are doing, Casino and Quantum have been origin stories leading us to the more recognisable Bond that we know, and when the things like Q etc. come back they will feel all the more rewarding because we have earned them and seen Bond develop. The comment about people complaining about Die Another Day and then whingeing again after they changed things is spot on. People don't seem to know what they want. Why can't anyone enjoy films any more, everyone's a critic.
i don't know if you can call me a bond fan i just got into it but after seeing quantum of solace's epic greatness i can't wait for the next one
That's exactly how I feel about Quantum of Solace. People were complaining about the lack of certain elements from the earlier movies, but these are prequels, and those elements aren't there yet. I can't wait to see how they all get added, and don't mind if they don't get added all at once.
I've been very confused by critics reactions to Quantum of Solace. To me, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are one film. I think if critics had viewed Quantum as the second half of a 4 1/2 hour Bond film, there would be no problem. I mean, did people complain that Fellowship of The Ring didn't have an ending?
I'm very confident that Bond is in great hands. After these two explosive origin stories, Bond is ready to evolve into the debonare, ruthless, polished, fornicator that we all know and love.
What does everyone think about Ricky Gervais or Eddie Izzard for the role of Q?
It doesn't have to be one extreme or the other. Why do we have to go from too many gadgets to barebones, too little of anything but frenetic, Bourne-derived chases? Surely, a happy medium could be struck between the two. I can watch "No Country For Old Men", a quiet, musing study of America's culture of violence, any number of times. It is rich in it's layers and a riveting watch. Quantum of Solace is woefully deficient on plot and character development, over-compensating with relentless action. It is a crashing bore, a sad sequel to a promising reboot, and one of the most uninvolving Bonds of all time. I'm ready to accept a more serious Bond, not a tedious one.
And on another note, Craig doesn't have that sense of play, that sense of humour needed to make the old Bond touches work. He's too clenched, he takes himself too seriously. He's not like that in "Munich" or "Layer Cake". I've no idea why he gets so brutish when it comes to Bond. You can surely be a tough guy without getting all thuggish.