Fassbender's Bond

edited November 2011 in Actors Posts: 140
Watched X-Men last night and I have to say that Fassbender's performance, in the first 40 minutes, was 'pure' Bond. So much so, in fact, that the Bond of the last 4 films has been wiped clean in my mind.

Wonder what the Bond producers will think?
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Comments

  • Posts: 5,767
    Nothing, because Craig is doing at the very least one more, and by then Fassbender is too well-paid and widely known to let himself be nailed down on Bond.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited June 2011 Posts: 15,713
    Well, Craig was 'pure' Bond in Layer Cake - look that how turned out to be the most un-Bond performance on the franchise !! So from now on I am really careful on making assumptions of Bondian performances in other movies - although Fassbender was indeed very cool in First Class, I admit.
  • Posts: 140
    But Dalton, Fassbender, in my very shallow opinion, has the complete package. He actually looks a lot closer to book bond, has his build and even his 'cruel' quality.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,713
    Grant - I agree Fassbender is far closer to the 'Bond looks' than Craig, and really acts more like James Bond than Craig... But what I am afraid is another Brosnan - over-emphasis on the Bond cliches, and making another mix of Connery, Dalton and Moore... If they can give Fassbender a great traditional Bond movie and take on the character - than by all mean boot Craig and put Fassbender in Bond 23 !! :-bd
  • Posts: 140
    Agree :)
  • Posts: 140
    Bond moments from X-Men.

    1/Waiting in the hotel room.
    2/The bar with the German beer.
    3/And the winner - swimming to the yacth!
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    At the end of the day, what also matters is the writing. It doesn't matter how aesthetically close Fassbender looks or acts f the script is crap then the battle is already lost before it's started.
    However, since CR, EON are at least trying to step up their game and not go through the greatest hits motions like they did with Brosnan. Also, we now live in a world where there's a lot of good television and movies that at the very least touch on the spy/espionage culture and the Bond movies need to be at the forefront of this. We have movies like Dark Knight, Inception, X-men first class that have all been inspired by Bond's influence, it's time for Bond to take charge again and I do believe that Fassbender will likely be considered as Craig's successor. Craig has reintroduced a certain quality back into Bond, something that's been missing for a very long time. Brosnan imo wasn't a very strong actor and I dont see Fassbender fitting the Brosnan bracket. Fassbender is very much in the Craig bracket of acting.
  • I agree with the front page review/comparison of the new XMen movie with early Bond. After seeing the new XMen for myself, it has more of a "classic" Bond feel than the last forgettable entry of QoS could ever have hoped for in my opinion (and I include the Goldfinger rip-off/tribute scene.)
  • Posts: 26
    I haven't gotten to see the new X-Men movie yet (hoping to see it tonight), but my dad saw it recently. He said Fassbender reminded him a bit of Dalton's Bond, only "better, more believable. Has an intense, serious air," to use his words.

    I'm definitely up for Fassbender being the next Bond. The resemblance between him and the drawing of Bond that Fleming commissioned is uncanny, plus Fassbender seems to have great acting chops.
  • There are two thoughts that I have regarding the "Fassbender as Bond" idea.

    The first is that I never make a judgement on an actor's performance until I actually see it. To use some examples (I'm dating myself) think of Steve Martin doing his "wild and crazy guy" standup and films like The Jerk. Who would have know that he would be capable of a straight performance like that in Pennies From Heaven? The same can be said for Robin Williams in Awakenings or Jim Carrey in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Or think of Matt Damon or Leonardo DiCaprio - who would have guessed that they could have bulked up and been credible as tough soldiers or agents?

    When I first read that Craig had been cast as Bond I thought it was a joke. To be fair, CNN pulled what looked like the absolute worst pic of Craig they could find and put it up against the most glamourous pic they had of Brosnan. But then I saw Casino Royale and thought damn, this guy is the best Bond since Connery. So who can tell?

    The second point is that just because someone "looks" like Bond (which leads to the question - which Bond?) doesn't mean that they'll give a good performace as Bond. I don't buy into the idea that a slavish devotion to the "Bond of the books" makes for a good Bond or Bond film. I mean, do we really want a racist Bond? Most audiences today would laugh at the idea of Bond smoking three packs a day and then being able to run down a subject. Escapism is fine, but even that has its limits.

    Sherlock Holmes has been a part of pop culture for over a hundred years and I dare say Bond will too. Not because Bond will be trapped in amber but because it's a great base concept that can be tweaked with different interpretations. Think of how different Connery was from Moore, or Moore from Dalton, or Dalton fron Brosnan, etc. So a wide range of actors and performances already encompass what is "Bondian".

    This reminds me a bit of people saying that if John Hamm could learn how to do an English accent then he should be the next Bond simply based on how he looks as Don Draper in Mad Men. I think there are far more important qualifications to being a good Bond than looking good in period clothing or looking like an old commisioned drawing of Bond. Remember, Fleming was originally horrified by the idea of Connery as Bond. Seems like that worked out pretty well...
  • edited June 2011 Posts: 140
    Yes but looking at Fassbender in two non Bond roles and particularly X - men, for me, he exudes far more Bond than Craig does without playing the part.

    The bar scene in X-men is a prime example of this. He looks, acts and exudes Bond!
  • edited June 2011 Posts: 5,767
    Yes but looking at Fassbender in two non Bond roles and particularly X - men, for me, he exudes far more Bond than Craig does without playing the part.

    The bar scene in X-men is a prime example of this. He looks, acts and exudes Bond!
    That might be a big reason for not being considered. After all, Craig was chosen for what he is, and the producers obviously had in mind to go somewhere with him where they hadn´t gone before.

    Well, Craig was 'pure' Bond in Layer Cake - look that how turned out to be the most un-Bond performance on the franchise !! So from now on I am really careful on making assumptions of Bondian performances in other movies - although Fassbender was indeed very cool in First Class, I admit.
    I would agree that Layer Cake turned out to be Craig´s Bond audition, yet he was by no means ´pure´ Bond in that film. If at all, he was the opposite of Bond. He had a few scenes where he could show off his body, and a few where he held a gun. But basically he played a clever coward not used to violence.

  • Posts: 26
    Didn't Brosnan originally get casted as Bond for The Living Daylights because of his performance as Remington Steele? And then he lost the role when the show's producers decided to do another season to cash in on Brosnan getting the role of Bond, if memory serves me right.
  • edited June 2011 Posts: 4,622
    Having seen Fassbender in the new X-Men film, it is quite apparent to me that he would make an excellent Bond for two reasons.
    First and foremost he has the right look. Tall dark and handsome. That is what Bond looks like, as envisioned by Fleming and portrayed by the original screen Bond Connery.
    Secondly, he can act quite well. He has a decent range. It is very easy to see him as playing a Connery style Bond, probably moreso than anyone who has actually succeeded Connery.
    As for Craig in Layer Cake, his character was indeed "a clever coward who shunned violence" but the character still had obvious Bond traits and Craig did show potential as being able to play Bond in that role, however IMO Craig never should have been considered, simply because he doesn't have the right look. The look does matter. Bond has a distinct look.
    With Craig established in the role however, I would like to see him continue as long as he wants until mandatory retirement age of say early 50's. I don't like changing up the actor unless they can't play the role credibly. eg I would have been happy to see either Moore or Brozzer fired early, as neither could fight, but Craig can at least play the role with some gravitas and humour, so he can stay as long as he wants, although I still never would have hired him in the first place. I would have insisted on someone like Cavill or Fassbender, who both had the right look and could play the role. However both will be too old by the time Craig retires. Eon should be looking at actors who are currently in their early 20's, AND WITH THE RIGHT LOOK, to replace Craig when the time comes.
  • Posts: 140
    Understand your views regarding age. However, I think Bond and Craig should part company after the next film. Looks and I think, more in Craig's case, character does matter. I just don't think Craig's Bond is simply Bond. Maybe 'Action Bond' yes but nothing else.

    Time to go back to 'real' basics and with that I mean a touch of fifties/sixties, of the books and the 'look'!
  • Posts: 26
    While I myself am a big fan of Craig's Bond, I do admit I want him to step down after Bond 23.

    I really would love to see Fassbender as Bond, but who knows with Babs.
  • shrshr
    Posts: 1
    Loved it...when I read Vaughn was doing it in the 60's I knew he was going to do it like a Bond flick...

    http://hunter-funemployment.blogspot.com/2011/06/x-chix-nazi-hunter-review.html
  • Posts: 1,894
    He actually looks a lot closer to book bond, has his build and even his 'cruel' quality.
    I'm not denying that Fassbender is a great actor and would make a fantastic Bond - but I would caution against casting an actor based solely on his resemblance to Fleming's original creation. I'd much rather have an actor who didn't look like book-Bond but could act like book-Bond than an actor who looked like book-Bond but couldn't act like him.
  • Shadowonthesun - agree totally. I'm not saying that Fassbender *wouldn't* make a great Bond, but I don't see how someone "looking like the book-Bond" will somehow make for a better film.

    This reminds me of conversations on the internet a long time ago when a lot of people were saying that Patrick Stewart MUST be cast as Blofeld. Not because of his acting skills, but because he was the highest profile bald actor at the time. Yeesh.
  • edited June 2011 Posts: 140
    But he doesn't just look bondian he acts Bond. As I said before, the first 40 minutes of X-Men was far more like Bond than I care to remember.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited June 2011 Posts: 13,355
    But he doesn't just look bondian he acts Bond. As I said before, the first 40 minutes of X-Men was far more like Bond than I care to remember.
    Wasn't that one of the problems with Brosnan though?

    Anyway, by the time the other two X-Men films have been made, Fassbender will be two well known in my opinion and will likely not even want the Bond role.
  • edited June 2011 Posts: 4,622
    The trick is try and hit a home run. No compromise. In otherwords it's very possible to have both - the right look and the acting chops to bring both the danger and the charm.
    You start by considering only the actors with the right look and age and then pick the best of that bunch.
    It's a simple methodical process.

    ==Isn't this how casting calls work. They put out the sheet, advertising the basic requirements for look, age, ethnicity etc and then pick the best of those who meet the basic requirements.
    Casting Bond should be no different.
  • Posts: 5,767
    But he doesn't just look bondian he acts Bond. As I said before, the first 40 minutes of X-Men was far more like Bond than I care to remember.
    I saw the film today, and I really think differently. Fassbender looked absolutely awsome, but he reminded me of Bond about as much as Craig did in Layer Cake, which is hardly.
    The combination of Fassbender and MacAvoy on the other hand seemed as if Bond were split into two bodies - MacAvoy being the suave, light-hearted element, Fassbender being the focussed, driven element. As for the looks, on stills Fassbender may have a distinct Bond look (and as thin as he is in X-Men, he might even fit the height-weight-combination described by Fleming), but as a moving, living man, he didn´t remind much of Bond, though I would neither deny him the range nor would I object to him playing Bond. Actually he looks very young in X-Men, so he wouldn´t look too old if he would take over from Craig in five years.
    In fact, I wonder why they didn´t hire him for CR, he would have been just the right age to play rookie Bond, and I doubt he wasn´t mature enough then.

  • Posts: 1,092
    He'd be a great Bond, no doubt.
  • Posts: 26
    Just saw the film. I'm definitely sold that he'd make a terrific Bond. While he didn't act Bond-ish on the whole film, the part where he hunted down ex-Nazis reminded me very much of Bond and he only spoke one single line in English during that part.
  • This reminds me of conversations on the internet a long time ago when a lot of people were saying that Patrick Stewart MUST be cast as Blofeld. Not because of his acting skills, but because he was the highest profile bald actor at the time. Yeesh.
    Funny you should bring that up... Always thought that Yul Brynner would have been the ULTIMATE "bald-Blofeld" during the hey-days of the 1960's... ;-)

  • Posts: 1,894
    I actually think Fassbender's role in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS is better representative of his potential as James Bond. Especially the briefing scene with Mike Myers; it reminded me of the Age of Connery where Bond always had a bit of knowledge about the central plot points, like the gold in GOLDFINGER.

    I've also heard the suggestion that Fassbender should team up with Matthew Vaughn for a Bond film. I think that's a bit of a mistake, myself; FIRST CLASS was a great film, but I just think pairing actors and directors together on the back of recent success is a mistake. I think I'd prefer to see Fassbender as Bond in a film directed by David Fincher, Danny Boyle or Christopher Nolan before on directed by Vaughn.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,713
    shadowonthesun - you know there are much more chances that Vaughn will direct a Bond film, than Nolan, Fincher or Boyle... The chances of the last 3 I mentionned to direct a Bond film are nonexistant.
  • Posts: 5,767
    shadowonthesun - you know there are much more chances that Vaughn will direct a Bond film, than Nolan, Fincher or Boyle... The chances of the last 3 I mentionned to direct a Bond film are nonexistant.
    Why should Boyle be unconsiderable?

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