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Waa? He would change it up but the parameters he is working in would not suddenly change. Think about the switch from Moore to Dalton and how the whole mood of the films changed, even though the same formula remained intact.
The fact is Craig is the encumbant Bond, so any future Bond film (as of today) would be written with him in mind and to fit in the establish continuity of the last 4 films. We aren't going to see real dramatic change until Craig steps down and EON goes back to the drawing board with an entirely fresh direction. After a decade of the same arc repeating over and over, I thought this was pretty obvious.
It's almost like the Craig era is a microcosm which encapsulates the entire Bond era from 1962 (DN grit like CR) full circle to about 1997 (with the similarly cliched to SP - TND). So really all that's missing now is his DAD.
Yes, I agree.
Some seem to have a "just one more" mentality with Craig that frightens me. What they fail to realise is that "just one more, just one more" is what leads to "one too many" syndrome, as happened with Connery and Moore. Sure, Craig could come back for a fifth and end things on a high, but that has never happened before. If you're betting on something that risky actually coming off, then why not just go the full hog and recast. That doesn't seem like much of a riskier gambit to me, and the rewards will be tenfold. I don't think the franchise owes him a "last hurrah".
I do agree with this.
And no matter if he comes back or not (and I much prefer one more for the story arc) Craig's era is golden; it has been an outstanding ride. I simply want it finished better, and no I'm not being hysterical or overreacting. Geez. Oh the franchise does not "owe" him another; that is not the point. It's about this particular Bond, and this particular story. Whatever happens, the series will move on.
1) Blofeld escapes, Madeline gets killed off. My issue with this is that coming so soon after Vesper it just seems like a retread. The point of Madeline, to me at least, was a sort of twisted penance from Mr White to Bond. When Vesper died Bond sort of resigned himself to being 007 until death or retirement, even when he's given an out in Skyfall he can't stay away, but then along comes Madeline and he has a chance at a happy normal life again. Killing her off would just be pointless and lazy imo.
2) Blofeld escapes, Madeline lives. This would be a pointless continuation of the storyline. The only real narrative purpose would be to kill Blofeld off, when having him locked up for the rest of his life was actually more satisfying (because Bond's refusal to kill him represented him giving up his job as a spy/assassin).
3) Madeline is written out with some offhand explanation and Bond is back at work. Craig finally gets a straightforward, stand alone Bond on a mission film. As great as it would've been to see DC get a film like that, the opportunity has passed. Doing it now would be pointless after SP wrapped up his era nicely.
4) Madeline is written out with some offhand explanation, Bond is back at work, Blofeld escapes. Probably the worst option. Undermines the whole point of Spectre while also dragging on the storyline.
So I have no interest whatsoever in a fifth Craig film, because they've essentially written themselves into a corner. He's been great. He's by far the best actor (don't mean he's the my favourite, just the best in terms of acting ability) to take on the role imo. Have to confess that the massive disappointment of Quantum Of Solace blighted my opinion of his portrayal and his era for a good few years, but Skyfall won me back over and then Spectre was the cherry on the cake. One of the best Bonds without a doubt. But I think his time is done now. It's time for him and EON to move on.
Wouldn't mind if Mendes returns. I'm apparently in the minority on this site, but I prefer the latter half of the Craig era to the first. I went off him a bit when he held up production of SP but that film was worth the wait. I'd love to see what he could do with a new actor. Or they could try to get Martin Campbell back, GE CR and the first film of the next guy could make a nice spiritual trilogy. Or they could go for some new blood. After two big blockbusters in a row, I'd love to see a stripped back, bare bones crime thriller esque Bond film, written and directed by either Danny Boyle or Gareth Evans. Or if they wanted another big blockbuster spectacle I'd love to see what Chris Nolan could do with the character.
The possibilities are endless. I just hope we get some solid news sooner rather than later.
The 1st Blofeld got stuck in that bath-o-sub and didn't return for 10 years.
Fair enough @4EverBonded. I guess it's open to interpretation. I did think that SP felt like a complete ending but the majority seem to share your opinion so perhaps I'm wrong. I am very interested to see whether he returns or not. I can't see many interesting story options if he returns, but (and this is one of the things I like best about the DC) I doubt he'd agree to do another if they didn't have at least an interesting idea of what to do with it.
I think Mendes will also be a factor. Even with Spectre's critical reception (which I thought was way off the mark), it still made EON a lot of money, and they seem to like Mendes. If he decided he wanted to make another, to finish off a sort of trilogy with Craig, I bet EON would be happy with that. But then the new distributor will probably come into play as well. I think this is probably the most curious I've ever been about the future direction of the series. I can't remember things ever seeming so up in the air in my lifetime.
Great analysis @thelivingroyale. I have to agree on all points. i really don't know either how they want to continue the Story.
at this point Craigs story can kind of only go into DAF/MR ridiculousness and i am not sure i wanna see that from Craig.... but on the other hand all great Bonds need to have a crappy ending, don't they :)
Yet I don't think they've got the stories right except for CR. For spy stories they're quite rubbish. I enjoyed SPECTRE as well, mostly because it wasn't so emotional as QoS and SF. With DC I'm still waiting for the return that cold, determined Bond he was when he contacted M right after Vesper committed suicide and said "The bitch is dead". I agree with @thelivingroyale that the franchise has written itself in a corner. I do hope I'm mistaken and some writer would have a brilliant idea how Blofeld might escape, SPECTRE will be lurking in the background and Bond is a single ladies man again, while making it all somewhat plausible.
If not I'd much rather go back to the standalone missions with a new Bond. Please bring back the smooth spy, the risky gambler and cold assassin.
Yeah it feels like a false ending, or the ending before the ending if you get me. Like in CR, book and film, there's the ending of defeating Le Chiffre at cards, then surviving torture and then the final end of Vesper's death.
What if Bond goes off with Swan? What if a year later, they're living in a beach house in some African village. She's teaching little kids now. But Bond...
... Bond is having difficulties adjusting to civilian life? He has a form of PTSD. He's so used to the danger, he's expecting it at every turn. And it never comes.
He insists on driving Madeline to work every day, and afterwards he goes back home (cos he doesn't know what an honest job is), and he works-out in his old homemade gym he's put together (kettle bells, bench press, chins, heavy bags); it's like he's training for something that he expects to happen. He's coiled and wired.
And the one day that he finally agrees not to drive Madeline to work, is the day that she's kidnapped (even though Bond still followed her), because;
Blofeld has escaped. He's kidnapped Madeline and takes her back to a base that he's been building for years. An entirely new UNIT 471 that the Japanese created in WWII. Blofeld's Garden of Death.
Meanwhile, we discover, the PTSD Bond is discovering goes back to the torture sequence in SP. Bond's nerve endings were severed, now making him susceptible to suggestion. And, while panicking about Madeline's whereabouts, he gets a call.
It's from Blofeld. It triggers a hypnotic resignation in Bond (reminiscent of OHMSS) . He's ordered to go back to London and kill M (TMWTGG novel).
This plan barely fails, but now, once Bond is rehabilitated back to health, he must not only save Madeline but save the world: Blofeld has demanded the complete disarmament of the world's Super Powers, or he releases deadly bio-attacks on the world's largest cities...
... or something like that? Are we still in a corner, thinking outside of the box that SP may've put us into???
Agree with most except no more Mendes.
SP ended open ended.
No one cares about continuity. The audience doesn't care about the return of Spectre, Blofeld, Swann or their absence.
The audience and EON and whoever their partners end up being do care about DC playing JB.
EON will make whatever movie they want to and have clearly shown they will screw with anything, Fleming's books, characterization, series continuity, their own reboot, anything.
My continued plea is to ditch Mendes and his crew, hire a director and writer who understand action and suspense (who have no interest or experience with stage plays) and work off a FLEMING book. They resurrected their own series with CR, but still couldn't bring themselves to return to Fleming and have suffered movies that are not on the same level.
Ok for argument sake you have to options Craig does a fifth or Hiddleston begins his tenure. Still want to give Craig the heave ho after your complete distaste for Hiddleston as 007
I have answered this before. Hiddleston would bring about the greater change in direction and reinvention of the character. In the end, the Bond actor is such a small element in the grand scheme of things. What matters is that the franchise is headed in the right direction. With Craig at the helm, I feel like we're treading water. Hiddleston does nothing for me, but his casting would force EON to rethink Bond (and bond films) from the ground up. After 10 years of Craig, I think that is needed ASAP.
Well, I'm not assuming Craig has left but there's nothing wrong with speculating. Maybe I should have started the sentence with "If Craig has left...". Seriously, in the past these media outlets have got it right...although I'm not suggesting they're right this time. Who the hell knows..? They do write a lot of trash as well.
Many didn't believe the articles pertaining to the fact that Bond 22 would be called Quantum of Solace. This is just one example.
My god, that baby crying is just scary.
I can't understand the comments stating that Mendes and Craig have done all they can do with Bond. This just isn't true. They're artists with imagination. There are always other facets to explore. These movies simply need a good story with some decent character movement and we would get something fresh. I'd love for Craig to return and will be most disappointed if the news regarding his retirement from the role is true. In terms of Mendes, I don't really care either way. Unfortunately Spectre was just too one dimensional in terms of characters which was particularly disappointing after the great CR and still wonderful, but to a slightly lesser extent, Skyfall. You can still have a big bombastic Bond story like Spectre with the character work of CR and SF. It seems like this is a concept that the Bond makers still haven't grasped.
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Regarding the great Bond Pepsi ad posted on the main page, I remember watching this on TV in 1996 but I have no idea who played James Bond. I've always loved the way that guy says "shaken not stirred". Cool, fun delivery.
What makes Dan as Bond so great, especially in a final fifth film? Well, to quote yourself, @Mendes4Lyfe, "I'm not going to make that more obvious. If you see it, you see it."
I honestly don't know how people can't see the majesty that would come from Dan doing a last Bond film where the character deals with life after the bullets and blood, something we haven't seen before, mind you. Bond would be questioning his life purpose after all the missions and killing, trying to come to grips with what his identity is after MI6 and if he can truly settle down when those duties became more than just a part of him. The film would be unlike anything else in the Bond catalogue, its own separate story that explored a part of Bond unseen previously, just like OHMSS did way back in 69.
We've never seen the last Bond story told before, where a Bond actor gets to tie off their era in a movie with actual finality to it before another actor comes along. Bond 25 told as the last Bond story would give us content we've never come close to seeing before on the big screen, and with Dan at the center of it all, you can't tell me that isn't tantalizing. The film would wrap up what was left in SP, give a concrete conclusion to Dan's era, and focus more on character and overall narrative strength over action and big budget thrills, which is something we obviously need to step away from. Tell a strong, character-centric Bond adventure that really digs deep into who he is as a man, and what his life after MI6 would be, pulling no punches.
Mirror Bond's story with that of Blofeld's, who also feels uncomfortable and out of place with his new life, usurped from his SPECTRE throne and feeling powerless and transparent behind cell bars, subtracted from a world he hoped to control. Make the organization in ruin amidst a power struggle, with members turning on members, fractured and crumbling, a corrupt and futile machine, just as Ernst viewed MI6.
Come on, now. Who wouldn't want to see that?
This is exactly what I would like to see in B25.
I wrote a treatment for the forthcoming Bond entry in the plot ideas thread. I like to think it touches on some of the elements you listed, but maybe aren't as eloquent as you described them just now.