Like some of the latter ones, I’ve only watched it once or twice. Perhaps as a stand-alone film without 50 years of a franchise, it might be OK, but too much of the old-time class and style just isn’t there.
I’ve commented before that the male villains since the ‘90s have been consistently weak and largely forgettable. I don’t know whether it is the actors, the writing, or perhaps both. I think the last remotely effective and memorable villain was probably Robert Davi’s Franz Sanchez in “Licence to Kill.”
It’s the one thing I always appreciated from the Connery-to-Dalton era: nearly all had effective male villains, with perhaps the low point being Curd Jürgens in “The Spy Who Loved Me.” Not that he was a bad actor, I just thought the character wasn’t strong enough. The worst thing you can have in an action/adventure film is a villain who is just outright boring, and this has been a consistent problem in the Brosnan-Craig era.
Even worse is when you have good actors, such as Jonathan Pryce, but the characters they play are more of a political statement than an attempt at entertainment (with Pryce “satirizing” Rupert Murdoch, which seemed more offensive than anything else). Pryce CAN play a helluva a villain (watch him in the criminally underaired “Something Wicked This Way Comes”), but this was just pathetic. I wonder if this same fate will befall Javier Bardem in the new JB film.
Count me as one who actually preferred the comedic “Casino Royale” of the late ‘60s, even if it overdosed too much on silliness and unevenness (borne of having too many directors and contributors). I’m also partial to the Herb Alpert theme. Perhaps also it is because Bond seems more at home in that ‘60s era than he does today in this less-than-stylish era. Le Chiffre was played in that film by Orson Welles, and he was so breezy in it. I don’t even know the name of the actor in the recent one, Mads Something ? Just didn’t seem like there was anything there. Male model with no depth.
Without rehashing my avalanche of complaints about Daniel Craig, except to cite a few... his basically being the wrong type for the part. I’m a soap opera fan, though the production values and quality of actors have been diminishing for some time now. Craig reminds me so much of the automaton Jason Morgan on “General Hospital.” A child of privilege on his way to becoming a doctor, gets into a near-fatal car accident, incurring a severe brain injury, and turns into a joyless hitman/mob enforcer for Sonny Corinthos. Craig’s JB is like Morgan. These guys should be working for SPECTRE, alongside Red Grant (and Grant had a lot more charm and panache).
For those whom are fans of Craig, most don’t even understand that he’s miscast in the role. I simply think he’s too remote, too cold. When Connery was JB, a lot of men wanted to emulate him. Does anybody seriously want to emulate Craig ? The last Bond I wanted to emulate was the charming and classy Timothy Dalton. Hopefully the next actor will be closer to that model.
Real men don’t “emulate” other men. A man isn’t really a man until he becomes himself.
Real men don’t “emulate” other men. A man isn’t really a man until he becomes himself.
I always thought Gabriel Byrne would have been a very good Bond.
Mrs. Dash - nature's true aphrodisiac.
You didn’t like Sean Bean in Goldeneye?
This Bardem villain seems like a psycotic version.
He and Famke were good.
As I’ve said before I think Jonathan Pryce was too hammy.
I think Sophie M worked as a villain, Pierce busting a cap in her was one of his best scenes as Bond. Robert Carlye was boring and it’s too bad, the character had potential, a guy that couldn’t feel pain.
The Korean guy who became a White guy and got into a sword fight in DAD was just funny.
The 2 Craig villains so far were okay but not especially “memorable”. I think that’s why we have a blond Javier Bardem this time, even if he stinks it will probably be memorable.