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Bring the old comedic Bond back? Yay or nay?
CASINOROYALE
Somewhere hot
So recently I decided to watch every Bond film starting with Dr. No to Skyfall. I have began to appreciate the older films a lot more! The last time I watched the older films I was around 16-17 and now I am 21 and I am starting to enjoy the humor.
There's a lot of scenes like where you see Bond and Jaws smiling at each other before every fight, those epic one liners and sex jokes, which make Q and M mad. The boat chase in "Moonraker", which turns his boat into a hovercraft, or seeing the lotus in "TPWLM" come out of the water and drive back to the road. Seeing all the civilian looks and gasps... Does anyone miss these types of scenes?? I know it's hard to picture a lot of these comedic scenes in a Bond film now a days but these types of scenes made the movies for me.
I can't imagine a Connery or Moore film without a constant sarcastic Bond. To me I feel like Craig should start to incorporate that a lot more. Make more jokes and act more comedic about certain situations..
I think it would make it more Bond if you saw a car chase with him and Hinx in "SP", and you see Bond turning and winking or smiling at Hinx and Hinx returning the smile.
I know a lot of people dislike scenes like this but to me that's what a Bond movie is...
Bond always finds a way to joke about a certain situation.
Even in "CR", when Craig was getting his balls whacked he was joking around saying "Harder", and when Fields threatened to arrest Bond he made a joke regarding handcuffs. So what do you guys think??
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Comments
Like the gadgets though, it's a fine line. It shouldn't be thrown out there willy-nilly but rather must be carefully incorporated contextually into the scene to be most effective. I think it's similar to making a good meal. Everyone has the recipe, but some people know how to use the particular ingredients for maximum effect, while others go over the top and it's painfully evident to the palate of some.
I'm looking forward to seeing how they handle it in SP, since I'm hearing there will be more humour and gadgets in it than the last 3 Craig outings.
So true. The film Bond seems very fundamentally different than the novel Bond (though admittedly I haven't read all the novels yet). It's why I say Connery really invented the character we see in the films the same way Fleming did for the novels. They collaborated in ways to create two characters, both more fitting for their respective media.
I thought I was the only one that thought that way on here, I have to concur you won't find me using them as well.
As for making Bond more comedic, no not really. I'm prepared for SP having more humour but what works for one Bond doesn't necessarily work for another, I mean Moore couldn't do menacing Bond so he went another way.
Connery, Craig & Dalton could, Craig handles the humour like Connery did, Sardonic and witty, not troweled on and cheesy. Craig does it subtlety "but what if I felt compelled to"
Rog had great comic timing and was very charming but he lacked in other departments. No sense trying to do something if you can't, that's why we have had a varied bag when it comes to all 6 Bonds.
If the approach SP is likely to go works with audiences I can see the humour becoming more predominant but no double taking pigeons or blokes looking at their wine again, the bloke and his wife on the tube was enough of a nod to the Moore era as I want to get.
I can see Craig pulling off the humour form Connery's era, but wouldn't like to see him work with the more 70s style humour of Moore's.
For me, the best moments are informed by wit, most notably during the Connery era.
I agree with an earlier observation that the success or failure of humor in these films is correlated to the quality of the writing. Having one's script accept as the final draft does not mean that writer is a good writer of humor.
Too often going for the joke diffuses any real tension or danger. I have no problem with Craig upping the wit and cleverness factor, but more comedy? No! If you want comedy, then your cup of tea is Johnny English or Austin Powers.
Ah, but Craig is indeed quite funny, and he doesn't need one-liners to do it. It's facial expression.
Oh goodness...the look of "WTF?" between :09 and :13 is priceless. Remember: he has no idea who Q is at that moment: he thinks some weirdo has just sat down next to him and invaded his personal space. That's DC at his best. That's brilliant acting.
I'm assuming this is a joke but Bond isn't Chris Rock. Craig proved his quippy / deadpan delivery chops in SKYFALL.
This is why I've never been, and never will be, a Fleming purist. Firstly because most of them are elitist pricks when it comes to Bond fandom and secondly because of your post. Fantastic, good sir. Don't get me wrong, I love Fleming's Bond, but there are definitely differences and I love Cinematic Bond just as much.
edit: Also @chrisisall you're going to have to explain to me why Dalton being "terrible with the humor" makes him a "GREAT Bond." For the record I thought he handled the funnier bits just fine, but you're going to need to clarify a bit.
Anyways, to answer the OP (if I haven't done so already) I like my Bond films full of wit and clever dialogue. Some of the funniest Bond films also happen to have plenty of darkness, violence, danger, and thriller elements that the "serious Fleming Bond movies" have. I like a mix. If done right, however, I don't mind films on one side of the spectrum (CR isn't terribly funny and I love it, MR is all fun/comedy/spectacle and I love it as well).
Humor throughout the Bond series has been uneven at best. When humor doesn't work, it is not because of the actor. It is because of the writing. I don't believe for one minute Dalton was terrible with humor.
As for Moore and Brosnan, Chrisall, you are absolutely right on. Both actors always seemed to be aware of the joke.
Light comedy like in SF is OK. Let's not go back to the Moore Era.
I don't think DC's Bond should be wise-cracking left, right and centre. It's a waste of decent actor.
It absolutely comes down to situation. DC and his films are not a tonal fit for the classic written one-liner. It's jarring. Not only in a way that explicitly states it's 'a gag'. but also in a way that undercuts the drama. DC's humour comes from a different place, it's a grounded, natural response, rather than a scripted witticism. Such an example would be when he crashes the Germans' Range Rover in CR, then later on when he sees them in the bar he tosses off a 'Guten Abend'. Or in SF when the psychologist says, 'Day' and Bond replies 'Wasted', or the 'What makes you think this is my first time?' line to Silva. This is the kind of humour that suits DC. Deadpan and flippant, clever, but not over-written. And if it's in a dramatic moment it should compliment rather than undercut it. The worst example in the DC era is at the end of SF and commits both these sins simultaneously. The 'I got into some deep water', is a 'written' line, nobody would say that in such a situation, especially the DC Bond, who is supposed to represent a more human, three-dimnesional character. It's straight out of a Moore film. It totally undercuts the drama. I hate it. One liners, in the traditional sense, should not be part of this era. DC can do humour, though. They just need to tailor it to him, not to the ghost of Connery or Moore.
From my perspective as well, Moore & Connery were one off legends & giants, & one should not attempt to emulate them. Craig has found his own voice for the humour and he should continue in this vein.
Well put and the meeting between the new Q and Bond in SF is a brilliant example of blending humour with drama.