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@bondjames I think you hit the nail on the head with that last sentence.
+1
People say Dalton and Brosnan try too hard in Licence to Kill and The World Is Not Enough. I don't agree. However, I do agree they are theatric in their performances. But I actually like that about these two films. I like how they show their emotions for a change.
I'd take that over the expressionless Craig performances any day.
I see your point here. Craig comes off a bit monotone because of his near constant brooding, whereas Brosnan and Dalton showed a range of emotions throughout their tenures (and this coming from someone who isn't the biggest Dalton fan).
I think it's when you know that they are putting effort into their performances that I have a problem. Subtlety is the key thing. Craig's expression for instance when he sees Solange dead in the hammock is a great example of understated acting.
Compare that to Dalton's or Brosnan's equivalent and they aren't as effective. Plus, Craig doesn't have any background music supporting him like Dalton and Brosnan do in their scenes and his performance is what sells it.
Do you mean the car chase with the Dukes of Hazzard-looking car and JW Pepper in the passenger seat? I would hesitate to call this magnificent or atmospheric!
Perhaps a controversial opinion: I was watching QoS last night and I remembered how much I like Craig's dry, biting humour. He's way funnier here than in SF and SP. Lines like "You were supposed to shoot her" / "Well, I missed" or "I really think you people should find a better place to meet" or the one about winning the lottery. Or even visual moments like when he breaks the handle off the bathroom door at the opera. In SF and SP, they give him Moore-esque one-liners, which really don't suit him (and which I would rather not see in the films at all).
Like Connery and Lazenby, I think he says a lot just by how he carries himself.
I love the Thai chap in the car who gets cut up by Scaramanga and Bond.He is soooo angry and shouting away he doesnt look where he is going and smashes into a police car ...always makes me laugh .
----
My controversial opinion, after viewing Johnny English Reborn last night and the 2nd Kingsman film last week: I think it's going to be very difficult for EON to go back to the old way of doing things, even though many viewers seem to want it. There was an Aston ejector seat joke in JE, and that was made in 2002. Come to think of it, the same thing was in Canonball Run 35 years ago! There was a parachute gag (similar to TSWLM) in JE2 as well as a 'Q gadget' intro scene. So ultimately these tropes have to be used sparingly and in more intelligent ways going forward, given there are pretenders out there making a farce out of iconic moments from classic Bond films, or even doing it better (in the case of one particular director who has had his eye on Bond for a long time).
EON should try to capture the spirit of those earlier films without necessarily trying to directly import the elements (such as watch gadget, traditional Q briefing etc.) in an overt manner. Additionally, I think they really have to find an actor for the upcoming decade who can capture that ultra cool suave demeanour naturally, so even if the script calls for more grit and realism the high class slightly uppity British essence can shine through without it seeming unnatural. If they get that right, no pretender will stand a chance.
In fact, I've said before they can't go back to those days (the same beats of flirting with 'penny, job from M, down to Q branch, gadgets and all of that-- it is of the past, it's become too much of a joke... all of it, down to overt one-liners).
Style, sex appeal, great costumes, sets and locations, and yes, humour-- but dry, sardonic humour, not "I thought Christmas only comes..."--
Look to the first four films, and specifically to numbers three and four to see how they created iconic imagery that looked, on screen, effortless.
Be inspired (there's that damn word again), by those films and stories, and find a way of doing it in a modern setting (hint: CR; another hint: Fleming; one last hint: don't stick in iconic imagery and call it homage... It's time to create new imagery, for this era, by using the foundation of this character, and what the best of his films have given us (looking at you SP)).
As I mentioned on another thread earlier, I've seen something similar in 'design'. Those who create a very iconic design can get trapped repeating the approach over and over again and then eventually are forced to innovate due to competition. When they finally go back to the old approach for one 'iteration' I've noticed that the market can see it as 'passe' and trite despite the design callbacks (although there are exceptions like the Beetle from the 90s), and then they are forced to innovate again. Their reputation precedes them on account of the past, but it's something they can never take for granted, lest they be severely punished for it.
Agreed completely. He can frequently nail things without verbal cues.
Watching Denzel in AMERICAN GANGSTER (and his other main films), I say, without a doubt, that the man has as much sexy charisma as Sean Connery.
Done. Drop the mic.
BOOM
(and so on)
But shit he is a great actor that ooooozes charisma... He's old school sexy. The best. Timeless. Take what he has and pour that into all the metro-sexuals of today, I think we'd all be happy!!
He's got that "something" that Albert's wife saw in Sean...
I tried to picture which actor would fit such a bill. Denzel immediately came to mind.
He has an effortless cool in addition to immense versatility as an actor.
No, Denzel is the man. You were right, bondjames. Denzel is, indeed, above the class of actors who could be "perceived" as the perfect Bond.
"Effortless cool" is something hard to come by. Denzel Washington has it in spades.
Regarding Elba, he definitely has something as well. I'll be checking out his recently released The Mountain Between Us (maybe tomorrow) and am looking forward to the upcoming Sorkin directed Molly's Game, where he is really looking sharp in the trailer.
I wouldn't hesitate to include him near the top of my favorite actors list.