Friday 31 August 2012

Sorry, Rog, You're Up The Creek


So Roger Moore jumps on the populist bandwaggon to promote his book Bond on Bond and pronounces that Daniel Craig is the best Bond yet. I would say that I don't understand it - but I do - he says it almost certainly because he thinks that this is what people want to hear. I dare say that Craig is a good actor but he looks like a bare-knuckle fighter who has had his ears boxed once too often and he lacks any dash at all in his grossly over-developed frame, which is dressed in the dullest clothes which Wardrobe could find. Quantum of Solace is actually rather a dull short story in which James Bond is simply the audience to the story of a faithless wife's downfall and the film's plot is nearly opaque. Further films will lack any original Fleming link at all apart from the regular character's names. I still remember the thrill of the first Bond film that I saw on the big screen - Goldfinger - in the dear old St Austell Odeon (now smashed down) and I just don't think that Craig can do quite the same  for the current generation of youngsters but then again, I don't think that the current generation wants more than action and violence at the level that it is now being presented - and they certainly have to do without humour.

15 comments:

  1. I have all the Bond films on DVD. At least once a month I'll select one to watch. Nine times out of ten, it will be a Sean Connery Bond - regardless of how many times I've seen it before. The newer ones from the last decade or so, I've watched once or twice.
    Cheers, st.tully

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    1. I can well understand this. I think that FRWL is my favourite.

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  2. Hear hear! I'm glad to find someone else who thinks that Daniel Craig is overrated as Bond. Your description of him is spot on and he lacks the mix of urbanity and menace displayed by his predecessors. I was so unimpressed by Casino Royale that I consequently haven't seen Quantum of Solace and won't bother with Skyfall either. Whenever I did see him suited as Bond I was always left with the overwhelming feeling that somewhere a nightclub was missing its bouncer.

    He is a good actor, though, in other roles. Layer Cake and Road To Perdition spring readily to mind. But James Bond? No. The trouble is I think Eon and UA were so bowled over by the success of the Jason Bourne films that they felt they had to respond in kind, and the Bond franchise has lost something since then.

    Incidentally my favourite Bond has always been - Timothy Dalton. He tried (and partly succeeded) to bring some gravitas to the role and it was a shame he only did the two films (and that one of them was Licence To Kill).

    I'll be interested to see who takes over from Daniel Craig when the time comes, although I see he's gone on record as saying he'll "keep going until they tell me to stop". Let's just hope he doesn't do a Roger Moore and stick around too long in the part.

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    1. Craig isn't as bad as I thought that he might be, because he is a good actor, as you observe. Mind you he is better than Clive Owen would have been - far too wishy-washy.

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  3. My favourite Bond is the one I met at the post box in Hampstead, Pierce Brosnan, suave but yet can look cruel at times, just as Fleming described him. The mister's fave is also Timothy Dalton.

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    1. I thought that you were away to Skye or somewhere! Pierce Brosnan lost all credibility with me when he pronounced Maraschino as 'Marasheeno' - and then there is that sloight, Oirish accent - but I know that the ladies like the blighter. Dalton wasn't bad - but a bit too much of a nice guy. I guess that I am ruled by my memories of the Goldfinger cult - the case, the gun and silencer, the toy cars with all the gadgets - and the atmosphere of the cinema.

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  4. I was only away for the Bank Holiday weekend, I'm just enjoying not blogging. Hang on, that's how I pronounce it too! How should it be pronounced? We Celts are the scourge of your kingdom!

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    1. You are kidding? Oh I am off to the corner wearing my Dunce's cap!

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    2. At least you can pronounce Glenmorangie!

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  5. Roger is far too modest. It is difficult to step into another man's shoes but I have always thought he was by far the best Bond. I like the way he sends the genre up slightly. Connery is for people who really believe in tall tales.

    Craig is just rough looking.

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  6. I think Craig is great. He has a sort of stoic meanness that harks back to early Connery.

    His physicality is very much part of his portrayal but you must remember the original producers didn't want Connery either because they thought he was just a dumb body builder.

    I think a slight sense of thugishness has always been part of Bond. It provides his character tension, and without it, his womanizing wouldn't read as authentic

    Roger Moore was the worst - fluffy. He reminded me more of a Maitre d' at a posh restaurant - most likely bi sexual - knows a few rent boys and where to buy cocaine ......

    Dalton could have become a good Bond - he also had the requisite meanness but he was stuck with a flabby 80's script

    I'm very much looking forward to the next movie

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  7. Really must disagree with you NJS about young people valuing nought more than action and lacking the capacity for humour and good plotlines. I far prefer the Connery era to the current doggerel and I place in the aforementioned category.

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  8. I must disagree with you here, old boy. Of all the Bonds Craig is best, IMO. Craig brings a rough, sinister edge to the role, just as Fleming intended, softened somewhwat by his classic blonde-haired, blue-eyed good looks.

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  9. I agree with Kingstonian's comments about Roger Moore being the best Bond. Don't forget to watch Roger being interviewed by Piers Morgan on Friday night.

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