By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
So diligent have been the perpetuators of the James Bond franchise in 23 films over the past 50 years, you can practically measure pop culture changes like so many tree rings around American society.
Yes, James Bond is distinctly British but we know his heart is in the libidinous excesses so proudly flaunted in the United States. Who loves ya’, baby!
“This is a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a beloved cultural icon, with Daniel Craig taking full possession of a role,” wrote Roger Ebert, eager to join the party insisting Craig is pretty close to being almost as good as Sean Connery as the iconic secret agent.
Craig is way out ahead of whoever’s in third place. Yet it is interesting to remember Connery from back in his salad days of “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball.” Imagine the two actors side by side and they would be nothing alike. Yet, everyone is happy to cheer about how Craig has “re-invented” James Bond.
Craig’s Bond is a more populist bloke. He doesn’t get to be the alpha male with those pliant Bond “girls,” who don’t even come around much anymore. Instead of the Cold War version of Bond, as created in the books of Ian Fleming, we get the hyper-energized all-action-all-the-time Bond more suited for today’s men who have to keep running faster and faster just so they don’t get fired.
Still, traditional James Bond is our hero and respect must be paid. So British director Sam Mendes brilliantly conceives of “Skyfall” as both a tribute and an update.
Symbolicall, Mendes also destroys the Bond family home in rugged Scottish countryside and explains the death of Bond’s parents that turned James into an insecure orphan of the state.
At the same time, Mendes dreams up the most artistically exciting ways to visualize vibrantly lit computer screens glowing like God’s own brain. Oily villain and computer genius Silva (Javier Bardem) has stolen vital data he publishes online -- like Julian Assange, only deadlier.
We hope Bardem continues his thirst for portraying slimy villains. He is so good at it, reminiscent of the career change Vincent Price made for the middle years of his life. An older villain is always better for a young hero to defeat – just like sons breaking away from their fathers.
There is also the implication that Bond might have flirted with being bi-sexual. And the shaken martini is not his only adult beverage. Bond also has a spot in his heart for 50-year-old Macallan’s scotch.
There is one dispiriting side note. We get some amazing aerial shots of Shanghai, displaying a city of both metropolitan power and architectural grace. It is enough to make Tucson feel like a dusty and desperate frontier outpost. Try not to think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment