Tag: ian fleming

NO TIME TO DIE -Review

B25_25594_R James Bond (Daniel Craig) prepares to shoot in NO TIME TO DIE, an EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios film Credit: Nicola Dove © 2020 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Hey all you lovers of cinema excitement and thrills, you know the name and you know the number. The “gentleman secret agent’ has been delighting movie audiences for nearly sixty years now .Each new adventure just seems to build on the prvious one, with more action, more romance, and, well, just more (not a pun on the 70s into the mid 80s potrayer). Oh, but what an excruciating tease this has been. He was supposed to return to the multiplexes nearly 18 months ago, but a worldwide crisis (one that some felt was similar to some of the villainous schemes of previous movie masterminds) kept him “out of duty”. But the wait is over. I’ve been viewing these films in theatres for over fifty years now, but I must admit that seeing those opening white circles along with the opening strains of his musical theme kicked my pulse rate up a couple of beats. But really, with the official 25th entry will film fanatics worldwide insist that 2021 is NO TIME TO DIE?

The producers still have a few surprises up their sleeve with the franchise as it opens with a traumtic flashback that doesn’t focus on “the pride of the British Secret Service”. No it’s a look into the past of Madeline (Lea Seydoux), who was introduced in 2015’s SPECTRE. Since the end of that mission, she’s the traveling paramour of 007, James Bond (Daniel Craig). While visiting Matera an ambush leads to a painful parting for the couple. Skip ahaead five years as a secret MI6 biological warfare lab is attacked by heavily armed goon who grabs one of the deadly viral creations along with its creator, Valdo (David Dencik). We’re than off to Jamaica, the retirement home of Bond, who suspects he’s had a visitor drop in while he was out. Heading into a nightclub that evening he bumps into the mysterious Nomi (Lashana Lynch), a woman connected to Bond’s past life. A bit later he discovers his “houseguest’, old friend and CIA liason Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) who is mentoring over-eager young agent Logan (Billy Magnussen). After much cajoling, Felix enlists Bond to join them in Cuba to resuce the kidnapped scientist and his work. On that island, Bond is teamed with another agent, the sultry Paloma (Ana de Armas), but the retrieval mission goes fatally wrong. This prompts Bond to return to London and MI6 HQ where he is reunited with weapons wiazrd Q (Ben Whishaw), Miss Moneypenny (Naomi Harris), along with his former boss, M (Ralph Fiennes), who may ulterior motives. Nonetheless, Bond is on the job, one that will have him crossing paths with a former love, an old archenemy, and a sinister new threat named Safin (Rami Malek). Could he be the fiend that finally closes the case file of 007?

With his fifth Bond blockbuster under his belt. Craig easily delivers all the requirements of the iconic role, handling the stunts confidently while looking elegant in his Tom Ford suits. Unlike some of the previous entries he gives us a bit more of the Bond humor, tossing off witty asides while never overdoing the cringe-wothy “bon mots” that several actors couldn’t quite “land”. And, once again, Craig is perhaps the most beaten and battered Bond, but not just phsically in this outing (though his facial cuts and bruises don’t quite fade). This time he’s emotionally “put through the ringer” as he reflects on past romances and deals with a heartbreak in the opening minutes that hits him worse than a “too close for comfort” bomb blast. Craig balances Bond’s ruthlessness with a little explored vulnerability. If this is Craig’s last mission, then he more than the delivers the goods bringing an unexpected humanity to “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”.

Much of the same can be said for Seydoux, who is more than merely the “Bond-girl” damsel-in-distress (it helps that she’s the first major “love interest” to be in back-to-back installments). Turns out that there was much more to Madeline’s story, and Seydoux expertly shows us her complexity and inner trauma. Yet there’s still her passionate protective instinct that kicks in when evil surrounds her and those she loves (not just her James). Malek is suitably unnerving as the “big baddie” Safin, but he’s not very compelling as Malek delivers a hestitant line delivery couple with a constant “deer in the headlights” leer. He’s such a talent, so it’s a shame that these choices don’t work. What does work in this story is another return, that of Christoph Waltz as the now incarcerated mastermind Blofeld. Though he over-indulged on the role’s eccentricities last time, the Hannibal Lechter-like restraints have brought a greater intensity as Blofeld intellectually toys with Bond like a cat with a trapped mouse. Also bringing a new spin on a familiar role, Fiennes gives M some deceptive and devious dark tones as we learn of his twisted machinations when he’s not barking at Bond. Luckily there’s Harris as Moneypenny, the peacekeeper, who displays a cynical sense of irony. Much of that is shared by Whishaw as Q, who still is flusterd by Bond, but has a quiet respect for him. But this time he’s not really sure of his own “gadgets and gizmos a-plenty”. Lynch is impressive as the very capable Nomi along with de Armas as the awlward but very skilled (a deadshot in a deliciously distracting outfit) Paloma, though I wish we saw more of her (and I’m not still talking about that dress). Magnussen and Dencik also provide a bit of comic relief until they both get the proper and very deserved denouncement.

It’s intersting that this actor arc of the series concludes under the skilled eye of a filmmaker new to this world of spies and seducers. Cary Joji Fukunaga , most celebrated for his TV work on HBO’s “True Detective” injects a sense of gritty and grim danger into this globe-trotting movie mission. He brings an edge to the often downbeat dramatics along with a fevered immediacy and even a sence of “gallows humor”. Much of this works thanks to the screenplay that he worked on with Robert Wade, Neal Purvis, and Emmy darling (for Fleabag) Phoebe Waller-Bridge (perhaps she aided in the comic interpaly and the strong female characters). As far as entries in the “Craig-era” of Bond, this is near the top of the quintet. It’s one that’s easily accessable to “new operatives” as it’s stuffed “to the gills’ with breathless action, mystery, and some “grounded gadgetry” ( the pulse-emitting watch is more plausable than the “invisible car’ from the last era). And happily there are lots of nods and winks at the series legacy, from a phrase and a song instramental early in its first act ( a big thanks to master music-scorer Hans Zimmer for his tribute to the great John Barry), to Safin’s attire, which seems to have been swiped from Dr. No’s closet. And that goes for the villain’s hidden lair/fortress (no, it’s not a hollowed-out volcano, but close) and even the hallways of MI6. Sure, this flick is a tad too long (too much dispatching of faceless goons John Wick-style in endless corridors in the big finale), but the surprising (for this franchise) conclusion is a fitting final bow to Craig whose bruised tightly-pursed lips breathed new life into a character who always seems to be re-invented just in time to capture the hearts of eager and always greatful filmgoers.It may be time for him to hang up the tux, but for Ian Fleming’s immortal creation, there’s really NO TIME TO DIE.

3.5 Out of 4

NO TIME TO DIE is now playing in theatres everywhere

SPECTRE – The Review

spectre

Director Sam Mendes was never going to meet expectations following SKYFALL. Never. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, SPECTRE was never going to satisfy hungry fans after previously delivering what many rank high among the best films in the 24 film franchise. SKYFALL was a huge achievement for many fans of the series. In many ways, it felt like more of a reset for the series than CASINO ROYALE. Audiences and fans applauded the most recent outing, even if it lacked as many of the stunts and gadgets that some have come to expect from the past two decades of James Bond films after the previous reset: GOLDENEYE. Sam Mendes was able to give the series a sense of prestige that had not been felt since… well… the Sean Connery days. That’s a pretty lofty achievement considering the series has been going for over 50 years.

I may not hold SKYFALL in such high regard as some, but I clearly see the allure and the reasons why so many gravitate towards it. Daniel Craig has had a fairly solid run as 007. Though not without a major hiccup (QUANTUM OF SOLACE), Craig has been able to escape the questionable “Blonde-hair blue-eyed Bond” stigma that was attached to him even before fans saw him donning the signature suit and tie. Having Sam Mendes and his star return again for another outing (possibly the last if you believe some rumors) is a no-brainer. It clearly worked well before; what could go wrong? Unfortunately, SPECTRE is not Bond’s finest hour – though nearly  2 and 1/2 hours is more accurate – but it’s certainly not his darkest hour.

In SPECTRE, James Bond is led from Mexico City, to London, to Rome, to some snowy city in Austria, to Tangier. And keep in mind, I no doubt have forgotten at least a few stops across the game board. A mysterious ring with an octopus carved into it leads to a secret grandiose terrorist organization as well as ghosts from Bond’s past veering their heads.

Now in his fourth outing as the secret agent with a license to kill, Daniel Craig seems to have exhausted his firepower. He comes across as either mildly bored or just simply too predictable. His unembellished mannerisms, gruff tone, and unflinching demeanor recall earlier Bond actor Timothy Dalton, but without the intensity and ruthlessness that Dalton became known for. Ian Fleming’s incarnation of the character found in the original novels is complicated but focused, but Craig seems as tired with the role as he has come across during his publicity tour of SPECTRE.

The supporting cast comes across as just as generic. Léa Seydoux certainly looks the part as she struts through a train car in a slinky silk gown but fails to ignite any form of spark in the brooding Bond. Women have always been the secret agent’s downfall, however, Craig seems more interested in a scurrying mouse in a hotel room in Tangier than the cold but alluring Seydoux. 

Christoph Waltz seems born to play a villain with his sly smile and distinctive cadence. What could have been an iconic role in the Bond series feels like a wasted opportunity. Even forgiving the fact that Mendes chooses to leave the villain in the shadows for the majority of the film, never is his presence felt as Bond dashes across continents uncovering the next clue in the mystery that is the criminal organization Spectre. The organization as a whole is not very well defined or threatening in the least. I guess the history that the organization has amounted in the Bond franchise is meant to be enough to inspire chills. Instead, David Bautista has to carry the weight of the always pursuing, all-knowing evildoer as the henchman Hinx – all muscle and seemingly mute. And a fine job he does.

SPECTRE

SPECTRE is the most “James Bondy” of the Craig films but it still has that heavy seriousness like the previous three films. Not as well balanced as CASINO ROYALE and lacking the emotional depth of SKYFALL, SPECTRE feels big and grandiose but also unfocused. At least it’s certainly better than QUANTUM. I feel the mystery wasn’t as intriguing as it should have been given the long (and I mean loooong) buildup. I think this entry will be most remembered for the action scenes. There are three great set pieces that are probably the best action scenes of the Daniel Craig series. A train fight in particular feels classic Bond while still being thrilling for modern audiences.

The action isn’t as gratuitous or disposable as QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The scenes pack a hard-hitting punch and are instantly memorable. It seems that Mendes didn’t want to repeat himself from his last entry. Instead of the operatic moodiness of SKYFALL, he instead wanted to make more of a standard Bond film. The problem is that the stuff between the set pieces doesn’t work as well as it should.

The sequence of events that leads Bond from one exotic locale to the next seems more arbitrary than ever before. A late night tryst with Monica Bellucci leads to him finding out about a secret meeting. Then he’s off to the meeting and she’s just as quickly off the screen. Her role is nonessential. Q examining a recovered Spectre ring can somehow uncover all the people and their personal information that are a part of this secret organization. What? Really? The connections leading from point A to point Z are unbelievably tenuous and seem too coincidental – keep in mind this is coming from a fan who has shrugged off quite a few instances of this in the past.

Fans of the series will enjoy seeing little nods to previous films. From the outfits that Bond wears, to certain set pieces, to even iconic characters coming into play, SPECTRE has some well-incorporated winks without feeling like simply fan service. Considering the film opens with the ominous statement, The dead are alive, you can’t help but let your mind spin all the scenarios. You don’t print that on the big screen without meaning a thing or two. Unfortunately little is done with that statement much more than the obvious. In fact, that statement and its meaning serve as a metaphor for the film as a whole – it’s a flashy idea but without much substance. If this is truly the final entry in the Craig-era Bond series as Craig has hinted at in interviews, it won’t be the best mission to go out on. SKYFALL may have set up a more classic Bond (akin to the Sean Connery days), but SPECTRE takes quite a few steps back, recalling the humdrum villains and location-to-location jumping-days of Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore. If the dead are truly alive as this film states, perhaps Craig will don the tux and wield the Walther PPK in a couple of years so that he can end his era with a bang.

 

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

SPECTRE is now playing in theaters everywhere

 

spectre-poster

SKYFALL – The Review

What’s the one word that really brings a smile to the face of a movie studio executive? Well aside from “profit” that word would probably be “franchise”. That’s a film property that spawns countless sequels and lucrative merchandising. Well SKYFALL celebrates 50 years of the greatest. longest-running film franchise of them all (we’ll see if Harry Potter or “Star Wars” can go five decades): James Bond 007. 1962 saw the release of the first ‘Cubby Broccoli/Harry Saltzman produced feature adaptation based on Ian Fleming’s popular novel ( there was a live US TV version of “Casino Royale” with Barry Nelson as “Jimmy” Bond broadcast in 1954): DR. NO. The series quickly become the main jewel in studio United Artists’ crown. As several pop-culture scholars have stated, the 60’s were the three B’s: Beatles, Batman, and Bond. While the lads from Liverpool broke up by the end of the decade and the Caped Crusader went into a decades long hibernation (the comic books continued, though). the Bond movie series endured, past other spies he inspired on the big screen (James Coburn as Derek Flint, Dean Martin as Matt Helm, etc.) and small (” The Man From UNCLE”, “Get Smart”). And the Bonds films survived the recasting of the hero. Daniel Craig is the sixth 007 over the course of 22 “official” films ( the 1967 CASINO ROYALE and the 1983 NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN are not part of the UA/Broccoli family canon). And after a four-year break ( thanks to some financial struggles with MGM/UA), the gentleman spy is back for this, Bond mission 23. But the times have changed so much in 50 years. Is he past his prime? Should he put away the Walter PPK? Well to quote one of the many advertising tag lines, “He’s got a license to kill…and thrill!”. And Mr. Bond’s newest exploit may be the most thrilling yet!

As SKYFALL begins, we’re thrown right into the conclusion of Bond’s (Craig) dangerous new mission. He and a co-agent, Eve (Naomie Harris) must retrieve a top-secret hard drive. But things do not go as hoped and 007 is missing. Things are also not going well for his superior M (Judi Dench) back in London. After several foreign agents’ identities are compromised, she’s pressured by her boss, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) to retire. Then an attack on MI6 headquarters prompts the MIA Bond to return. But his time away has left the master spy terribly out of shape. He’ll need to be in top form to speed across the globe in order to eliminate the cyber-terrorist known as Silva (Javier Bardem). Along the way, Bond may face his greatest challenge fighting Silva’s considerable forces and confronting his own past.

For this film Craig is called on to do more than be a clothes “horse”, throw a punch, or draw his weapon. Although he’s superb at all those tasks. We get a Bond that really runs a full range of emotions: angry, arrogant, fearful, unsure, even melancholy. This life as taken a toll on more than just his battered body. Craig is compelling every second he’s on screen whether his piercing blue are zeroed in on an enemy agent or a belligerent beaurocrat. The working over he got in CASINO ROYALE is merely a warm-up for what he must endure here (Craig’s Bond may be the most abused spy ever). And about those action scenes, Craig is one guy you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley (as opposed to a couple Bond actors I won’t name). No wonder some characters in the films refer to him as a “blunt instrument”. But in SKYFALL Craig shows us his very human heart.

The say that a hero’s only as good as his villain and Bardem is spellbinding as the enigmatic Silva, who shares a bit of Bond’s background along with a vendetta against M. We don’t meet him till nearly the half way mark but Silva puts a surprising spin on the 007/master villain first meeting/interrogation scene that’s a staple of this franchise. Their conversation (as Bond is tied to a chair) will have longtime fans buzzing. Bardem is a complex monster, equal parts menacing and pathetic. On the heroes’ side, Fiennes is the proper politico blowhard that doubts Bond initially. He later proves himself. It’s great to see veteran actor Albert Finney who is also wonderful as a tough old duffer who possess a key to Bond’s past. Part of Bond’s support team is re-introduced here with Ben Whishaw as Q, the dispenser (and often inventor) of spy-tech. Bond’s leery of Q’s youth, but the “brute” and the “geek” are soon working side by side. Speaking of side by side, Harris (as Eve) has a wonderful partnership (and some playful flirting) with Craig. A different fliteration occurs between Bond and possible lover/informant Severine (Berenice Marlohe). Yes, she’s alluring but also more than a bit tragic. You know that she’ll be haunting Bond’s dreams for some time. These actresses are great, but the most meaningful relationship may be the one between 007 and his boss M (Dench). They start at odds, but this wears away to mutual respect, and eventually a mother/son devotion and affection. This is Dench’s seventh outing as Bond (counting the four Pierce Brosnan films) and her finest work in the series. There’s been a tradition of “Bond girls”, women who dominate each outing like Ursula Andress in DR. NO or Halle Barry in DIE ANOTHER DIE. In a way, the “girl” here is Dench. They make a wonderful couple who have a true emotional connection well beyond the romantic. Oh, and did I say that this M may be tougher than all the previous M’s combined.

For this adventure, the caretakers of the Bond films have entrusted this entry to an Oscar winning director: Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY). There have been many skilled artists directing Bond since Terence Young helmed the first two, DR. NO and the cold war classic FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and there’s been a few “journeyman” film makers, but few have created such artistic images for a big popcorn flick. From the start we see a starkly lit hallway with Craig’s unmistakeable silouhette bursting from the shadows. Later a sequence of a tuxedo-clad 007 drifting across the waters via canoe to a bright casino is a lush, painterly image. But Mendes’s cameras are there to catch every gasp-inducing frame of some of the best stunt work to grace the series. Luckily the Coen Brother’s gifted cinematographer Roger Deakins highlights the different sequences, whether it’s the neon glow of Hong Kong or the crowded, grimey London “tube” at rush hour. Thomas Newman contributes an expert score that adds a dash of the classic Monty Norman theme just at the right moment. In the tradition of title theme songs, Adele sings (and co-writes) the tune that works well with some great film graphic images. It’s not quite the pop anthems that Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” and Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does it Better” from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, but it does evoke the jazzy stylings of Shirley Bassey (most notably GOLDFINGER). Happily the producers have included many nods and winks to earlier Bond flicks for longtime fans. You might say that the overall excellance of this new adventure is the ultimate thank-you to Bond fans of all-ages worldwide. Is this the best Bond? Well my first theatre-going experiences are of seeing that dapper Scotsman named Sean, so he’ll always be my image of the super-cool spy. But this is certainly the best Bond of the last four decades. And SKYFALL is one of the best films of the year. I hoist my vodka martini (shaken..aw you know!) to you, Mr. Bond! Here’s to 50 more years of unmatched screen thrills!

5 Out of 5 Stars

Dicaprio in Ian Fleming Biopic

Wow this is interesting, Leo as Mr.Fleming wouldn’t be too bad. Recently I have loved Leo’s work especially Departed and Blood Diamond. He is really coming in to his own, and I think he can handle this big task. I wasn’t to keen on his portrayal of Howard Hughes in The Aviator but who knows, people love Mr.Dicaprio.

LA Times reports that Leonardo DiCaprio has recently came on as producer of “Fleming,” an original screenplay written by Damian Stevenson about the life of the British author and journalist, Ian Fleming, who created James Bond. As always, DiCaprio may also star in the biopic.

“It’s going to be very different from the Bond films,” says producer Andrew Lazar (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Get Smart), who first championed the project. “There are a lot of different ways to crack biopics, but we’re not trying to emulate a Bond movie. The idea that this guy’s life informed the James Bond character is pretty fascinating.”

In fall 2005, just before the lucrative Bond franchise rebooted with Daniel Craig, Stevenson made his first script sale to Warner Bros. He then spent months mollifying the WB legal department about the historical accuracy of the Fleming story and worked through dozens of drafts with Lazar.

“It’s the real James Bond,” says Stevenson. “In England, Ian Fleming’s exploits are much better well known. Talking to people out here, no one had any idea that M was based on a real person, Miss Moneypenny was based on a real person.”

His latest version of the screenplay begins on the eve of Fleming’s Jamaica wedding in 1952, just before his first Bond novel, “Casino Royale,” was published (a wedding present to his new wife).

It then flashes back to Fleming’s years as a Reuters journalist stationed in Moscow and then a Commander of Naval Intelligence (MI6 code name “17F”) during World War II who devised innovative spying plots.

I guess we will just have to wait and see if He can deliver!