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Comments
+1.
Maybe they were called Sleep.
Do we know why he didn't return?
I agree. His slight, but not outright antagonistic relationship with Bond was interesting. Plus he's a far better actor than the expressionless one.
I know for me, leaving the theater, I felt tremendously let down that a movie that was ostensibly a continuation of the Vesper story offered little in the way of emotional/mental reckoning for Bond.
Sure, we see him getting wasted on the plane. We get a few lines plopped in there. We get the Yusef confrontation at the end. But..? Okay? I don't know. I still feel that way about the movie, even though its elemental feel has grown on me over the years as something of the black sheep of Bond films.
What do you think of the Craig films, then? Particularly the first two? Brosnan's films tend to have a high death count, by and large (more in keeping with action films of the 80s in that regard) but I feel that Craig's films are considerably more violent in a visceral sense.
Strange thing is I have no issues with Craig's violence. I think the thing about the Brosnans is all the emphasis upon shooting, often as I recall with machine-gun like effects. There's just something about it. Not that there's any blood spurting from the victims. It's just my personal feelings.
I enjoy the Craig reboot very much.
It doesn’t hurt the film for me, but it is one of those little bothersome qualities. At least in OP it comes off more pointed with moments like Bond having no choice but to shoot a soldier who looks fairly young. Bond doesn’t look pleased during any of that. Of course moments later it’s kind of sidelined with Bond wearing a gorilla suit.
All fair points. I love both GE and OP, but those moments always bothered me too. Especially the GE one. I always find myself thinking: "Hang on, isn't the Cold War supposed to be over?"
Brosnan no doubt used the machine gun more than any other Bond. I too take issue with that. It is the kind of thing that belongs in a Rambo film, but feels very out of place in Bond.
Good point about the Rambo comparison. It sounds like that is probably my own reasoning about it also. Bond has always been associated with his walther PPK, not with machine guns.
Along with the ‘comedy’ running and constant heavy breathing.
That's actually a pretty fair criticism, and I love GE, it's in my top 5.
Same here. Though I would contest the claim that it is never acknowledged; Natalya pretty openly challenges him on it at the beach in Cuba. It wasn't just the death of her friends she was referring to. It's about as reflective as you can get without slowing the film down plotwise and the "it's what keeps me alive" line as a response tells you all you need to know of Bond's mindset. It doesn't matter whether he feels bad or not - it's what he had to do. Pretty well written, I think.
I do, however, have a slight misgiving with the way certain bits of that archive shootout are choreographed. Bond rolling around on the floor firing on full automatic is a bit much. Another moment like using the library shelves to block the archive door would have been nice as it shows quick thinking.
Good points. Its fun to double wield weapons in a Bond video game. Goldeneye Rogue Agent comes to mind but not in a film. It got me thinking about the stealth boat scene when he is straight up guns blazing.
Its quite the opposite in fact.Craigs bond is MUCH more bloodthirsty than Brosnans.Especially in CR and QOS.Even M berates him in both films that he needs to ease up on killing people!
I don't have the source available right now, but I did read a list once concerning nr of kills by Bond per film. And the Brosnan films had more of them than Craig's. Craig's films portray the killings more realistically and brutally, as there is a thematic arc in both CR and QOS that Bond feels the burden of killing people. That does not make him more blood thirsty though. In fact you can argue it's opposite. Brosnan kills people like an afterthought, when Craig kills you feel the brutality of it.
I would certainly agree that is a fair assessment of Craig's first two films, as you say. And it makes sense, considering he's not a seasoned agent and is more sensitive to those feelings than Brosnan's version of the character, who is far more experienced. It's why SF and especially SP were pretty light on the same subject. Brosnan certainly had a lot more gunplay in his films, but I don't think he was 'bloodthirsty' in the way being described here - certainly no more or less than previous versions who killed in cold blood, or Craig's Bond who was very comfortable blasting his way out of Blofeld's compound.
All of this really reminds me, on reflection, of how special Craig's raw interpretation of the character in his first two films was. He has always been good, but I think he naturally lost a bit of that edge after QoS and it's a shame we didn't get more of it.
I agree. I was exaggerating a bit as I wanted to challenge the notion that Craig is 'more violent' than the other Bonds. I wouldn't say Brosnan was particularly blood thirsty either, although as has been discussed, the Ramboesque machine gun exploits annoy me.
Although I love Skyfall the film, I agree it is a shame that the stylistic portration was toned down. I think we can probably blame QOS' bad critical reception for that...
Were civilians ever harmed by Bond?
I just can't follow: it's an underlying theme throughout the film. It's why he brings in White. It's why M says 'you would've to be a cold-hearted bastard if you didn't want revenge on the ones you loved' or words to that effect. It's why he can't sleep. It's why he instructs Camille. Why he says 'I don't think the dead care for revenge' after Mathis' s death. etc. etc. It's as solid an underlying theme as you can get in a movie.
I agree with that. His body count in GE alone is huge. In the St. Petersburg prison, he just maws down Russian soldiers like it's nobody's business.
The way he runs and slides with the AK.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrreerp