Coming soon to a theater near you is yet another 007 flick(a remake,actually),Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig as James Bond. Is it just me or has the whole Bond thing truly played itself out?
I know there are plenty of die-hard fans out there,folks who debate the Sean Connery/Roger Moore/Pierce Brosnan/etc-who-was-the-best-Bond as passionate as those Trekkies who chose their friends by their allegiance to either Kirk or Picard,but as a casual observer(who prefers Connery above all and feels that Brosnan was pretty damn good),I find it hard to care about this franchise anymore.
My main probelm here is the casting of Daniel Craig;he really doesn't seem like a Bond to me. James Bond is a smooth,debonair British gent who can sweet talk the ladies into the sack and kick major bad guy ass while ordering his infamous "shaken,not stirred" martini. Craig looks more like a Bond villian,total thug face. Hell, he'd fit in more in the next Sin City movie as Marv's younger brother than as one of Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Also,it's hard to ger worked up over a 007 film these days-flicks like Mission Impossible and the Die Hard series have taken over the whole big budget action genre quite nicely. Yes,they've worn out their welcomes,too. However,after the success of the Austin Powers films,it's hard to take Bond even somewhat seriously. The cliches have become instantly recognized punchlines to even those unfamilar with the earlier films and we're not getting any real top-notch baddies for him to go up against. Heck,Roger Moore had atleast Richard Kiel as Jaws!
The true test of a good Bond movie is the theme song,IMO. Check out this video for Casino Royale's title tune,You Know My Name and compare it to some of these other clips of my favorite Bond melodies:
Goldeneye:
Goldfinger:
A View To A Kill:
For Your Eyes Only:
So,who would have made a better Bond? Clive Owen and Christian Bale were a couple of the choices mentioned that certainly caught my attention. My personal pick would be Julian McMahon,from Nip/Tuck and The Fantastic Four(hey,if he can play Victor Von Doom,Bond should be a snap). I know he's Australian but so what? At this point,any change up would be good. There was talk of having a female Bond or a African-American 007 a few years ago,which would've been creative but nope,that didn't fly.
Well,good luck with Casino Royale,Mr. Craig. As for me,if I need a sexy secret agent fix,there's always a cable channel running a Sean Connery marathon somewhere out there or I could actually watch 24 on DVD. Kiefer Sutherland is one of my favorite onscreen vampires and he's still sweet on the eyes.
I saw Layer Cake right after I heard about Daniel Craig as Bond and I was won over. I would have watched Julian McMahon as Bond. Actually, I'd pretty much watch him do anything. He's the reason I leave Charmed reruns on when I'm flipping channels. I thought Clive Owen would have made an excellent Bond.
ReplyDeleteI've heard good things about Daniel Craig as an actor but,to me,Bond is one of those roles that demand a certain type of actor and he just doesn't seem to fit the mold.
ReplyDeletePiksea,I know what you mean about those Charmed episodes;I sat thru a terrible vampire one(Rose McGowan turns into a bat,which makes her even more annoying)just because JMM was in it. At one point,he mentioned what a shame it was that he didn't get to knock off McGowan and I was all"With you there,buddy!"
Dave,I hope they can turn around the Bond franchise but after listening to that new theme song,I'm very worried there.