By Will Thomas
Staff Writer
The character James Bond has been on the big screen since 1962, marking this year the 50 year anniversary of the franchise. It all began in 1953 with author Ian Fleming, who went on to write 12 novels and two short story collections. After Fleming’s death in 1964, six other authors continued to write the stories of the secret agent known as 007.
Sean Connery brought Bond to the screen in seven films beginning with Dr. No and ending with Diamonds are Forever. Connery portrayed 007 as a stone cold killer who kept no emotional ties to his partners or his missions. He came off as sexist, and the role was changed to reach a more politically correct audience.
After Connery’s fifth Bond film, You Only Live Twice, a young George Lazenby rose to the title in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. However, the filmmakers felt the audiences couldn’t connect with Lazenby, and Connery resumed the role, picking up where Lazenby left off in Diamonds are Forever where he retired from the role until 1982.
Roger Moore was the next Bond, tying Connery’s record of six movies. He first appeared as 007 in 1973’s Live and Let Die, which was not well received by critics, because of its gimmicky voodoo theme and the humor Moore had added to the role. Nevertheless, Moore continued as Bond with more comedic-relief, and it became a staple in the franchise. The Roger Moore era introduced iconic villains like Jaws, Scaramanga and Baron Samedi.
Moore wielded Bond’s signature Walther PPK until A View to a Kill in 1985 when he passed the baton to Timothy Dalton, who only starred in The Living Daylights and License to Kill. Dalton attempted to bring back the brutality of Bond by removing the humor Moore installed into the character. Audiences reacted well to the action hero upgrade, but still missed the charm and humor of 007. Dalton had expected a third film, but his contract expired in the duration of a lawsuit involving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the film’s producers.
The franchise was revived with 1995’s Goldeneye, with Pierce Brosnan replacing Dalton as Bond. Brosnan was considered a near perfect Bond. He had both the grit of Connery and the charm of Moore. With the sudden evolution in technology, the filmmakers decided to take the gadgets of MI6 to the next level as Brosnan’s run as Bond progressed. Fans slowly became more skeptical about the logical aspects of the films. In 2002, Die Another Day was released, and was met with mixed reviews for relying on gadgets and special effects rather than writing. However, it was still the highest grossing Bond film of all time until Casino Royale in 2006.
After the supposed cinematic abomination known as Die Another Day, the series underwent a reboot in 2006 casting Daniel Craig as Bond in Casino Royale. Craig portrays an emotionally immature, gritty fighter version of Bond. Critics would say the character had been humanized. Craig’s character and the story itself are based off of the original Bond in the 1953 novel of the same name.
Unlike the previous installments, Casino serves as an origin story. It showed Bond’s first mission as 007. Many questions were answered, and the film added a sense of realism to the series. The film was widely acclaimed as one of the best Bond films of all time.
In 2007, the Hollywood writer strike began, and Casino Royale had begun post-production. The filmmakers found themselves shorthanded in writers. Even Daniel Craig had a hand in writing the sequel. In November of 2008, Quantum of Solace was released. It was met with mixed reviews. Though Craig was still praised by critics for his portrayal, the plot was considered strange, confusing and uninteresting.
As every Bond film opens with the classic gun barrel opening, Quantum does not. This movie takes a large step back from the fantastic origin story Casino gives. It moves away from traditional formats, and it inevitably comes off as a generic action movie.
Finally, after four years since a disappointing Quantum, Craig returns to the big screen as James Bond in Skyfall. Based on the trailers, we can expect to see more of Judi Dench as M, a memorable villain, gadgets from Ben Whishaw’s Q and an exciting performance by Daniel Craig.
My main complaints from the previous two installments were there were no crazy spy gadgets other than smart phones and the villains were generic and unmemorable excluding Le Chiffre in Casino. The character Q was essential for comic relief. While no one can completely replace Desmond Llewelyn as the Quartermaster of the MI6 gadget branch, Skyfall is still part of the origin story. It will be interesting to see Whishaw as Q working for the first time with the reckless 007.
The villain of any movie is essential to keeping the interest of the viewers. That goes double for Bond movies. Seeing the mental or physical distinction of each antagonist keeps the Bond series apart from the typical action movie. Skyfall’s Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem, looks like an interesting combination of class, insanity, and brutality.
This week, a recording of the Skyfall theme by British pop star Adele was released to the internet. The classic theme song served as a confirmation to the fans that the franchise was returning to its roots.
The trailer released in July focused on Bond and his relationship with M. It seems as if filmmakers want us to see another side of the head of MI6. They seem to be taking Bond’s false death from both You Only Live Twice and Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name. I trust the director Sam Mendes to deliver everything this movie promises to be.
The James Bond movie franchise is 50 years old. In that time, there have been 23 movies including Skyfall. Everyone’s favorite double-0 agent has evolved and the technology has advanced. It is becoming more evident this franchise will remain forever and continue to evolve with the times as they change. Skyfall will be released in the United States on Nov. 9.
