Bond

This one left me feeling a bit ambivelant. The next Bond movie has been suspended indefinitely due to the financial troubles of MGM Studios. (http://www.watoday.com.au/entertainment/movies/james-bond-film-suspended-amid-mgm-woes-20100421-ss68.html)

After being thoroughly, and utterly disappointed and disgusted by what was done with Bond under Pierce Brosnan, I was very skeptical about whether to bother watching the latest installments starring an Australian of all people, Daniel Craig. Not to slam Brosnan, he's a decent actor and I believe he could have been capable of playing a very good James Bond, if only they would have hired a decent writer that perhaps READ earlier James Bond or watch Moore & Connery in action. Bond is fantasy, but in the sense of fantastic suspension of disbelief. The movies Brosnan was involved in were pathetically written, and most suffered from "you can't freaking be serious that anything like this is remotely possible." It left me scarred, so much so that it was over a YEAR after Casino Royale was released that I bothered to rent it.

Casino Royale
Ultimately I was fairly relieved by this movie. At least up until the end. Craig was a very interesting choice for the role. Bond has always been suave, and used his quick wits, charm, the arrogance of his opponents, and the right gadget to get out of a tight situation. Craig is more like a neothanderal, solving problems with a big rock or a hefty shoulder through a wall. But his character is no idiot, he plays the part of an agent that you can drop right into the thick of a situation and know he's got at least half a chance of completing the mission and getting out alive. The bulk of the movie was quite well done up until the end bits where it started to fall apart around the edges. Actually I'd say that they started to peel off scenes from Thunderball, well, actually "Thud! Ahh!! My Balls!". If there's one thing I don't really like to see in movies is Deus Ex Machina. This is where some miracle happens near the end of a play (or movie) to save the hero. Unfortunately they resorted to the Deus Ex ending, saving Bond from an inescapable situation. Ah well, it was only a minor stain on the movie over all.

Quantum of Solace
This is a movie that ultimately should never have been made. I think in hind-sight it foretold of the difficulties that MGM was having with the franchise. The start of the movie was fantastic, considering how it was probably the first Bond movie with any sort of continuality written in. (The interrogation of Mr. White.) The plot twist with the secret organization unknown by MI6 and the like was a good twist and played out very nicely, but for an organization that they hadn't even caught a whiff of before the interrogation, they sure were too easy to figure out and infiltrate making it a real downer. The real disappointment in this movie is how the overall quality of the movie continually degrades; it actually visibly rots as the movie goes on. By the end you'd think you were watching some B-grade film. I was ready to shut the movie off when they prepared to storm the fuel-cell hotel out in the middle of nowhere, where negotiations between a corrupt general planning to coupe his government, and the evil organization member posing as a environmental group, setting up to double-cross the general was taking place. I think the only thing burning down faster than that stupid hotel was MGMs bankroll.

Quantum of Solace to me said that during the last film MGM was running out of money so the production quality of the film was continually getting dropped. It is a bit odd that it seemed to happen so linearly from beginning to end seeing as movie scenes are typically shot out of order depending on locations, actor availability, etc. Still it made some money, delayed the inevitable, and MGM gambled once again. It will probably be a good thing if "Bond 23" never sees the light of day because I'm sure it will probably show signs of rot no more than 15 minutes in.