Well here's a so so report on BOND 19 from his old hometown. I hope its just a case of expecting tooooo much because Father Geek is sitting on 4 free passes to THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH for Tuesday night and those trailers have really done their job of getting me hyped up for this episode. Bimbos are common in the Bond universe so Richards isn't necesssarily a minus in my eyes. Afterall she's just there as eye candy in the first place. Just look at the lead women in at least 15 of the previous James Bond motion pictures. Come on, Ursula Andress, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Carole Bouquet, Shirley Eaton, Claudine Auger, Jill St. John, Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Lois Chiles, and most of the others; all 1st class babes, but great actresses they were not. Action is the all important and necessary ingredient in the Bond formula. Give us tons of that, photographed and edited well with a great soundtrack to back it up and Father Geek will forgive alot. I'm actually encouraged on the villian front, I have felt that that was the real weak point in most of the recent films.
Sneeked into a press screening of the new BOND this morning, at London's Odeon Leicester Square Threatre. Are you interested in a(nother) quick thumbnail review?
Its a 3.5/5 maybe 4/5, nice twist, sags a bit here and there, Richards is comically bad: you can hear the gears grinding as she changes facial expressions. OUCH!!! If you are able to laugh at this (as I was) then you will not mind. Robert Carlyle is excellent, a nice change from the megalomanics of the last two Bonds. Dench not as great as I had hoped (she plays M as emotionally distant, and I found it hard to connect with the character) , though Robbie Coltrane's final scene is a winner: the audience will love him. The way Bond's relationship with Electra (Marceau) develops (no spoilers) makes it the most interesting relationship with a female in the last three movies.
The whole climactic sequence is good, but the final triumph (ie death or defeat of the baddie) is strangely lucklustre (and very slightly incoherent), and the film suffers from the same problem as the last two: NOTHING in it matches the fantastic opening sequence, which is by far the best of the Brosnan openers, which have all been so good. Though it has the worst credits of the three (the images are generally not timed with the music, which robs them of so much power: a shame considering TND's credits were some of the best credits for a movie ever).
When you see the first action scene, a ski-based one, it is a touch slow, and all you can think of is how great the opening sequence had been. Overall: some problems, but at least as good as either of the other Brosnan Bonds (which is to say, at least as good as Goldeneye), though not significantly better (as I had hoped).
When are they going to do the whole drawn-out-tension on a night train speeding through Siberia type sequence that we havn't seen in Bond for so long? (30+ years) With people peering over the top of their papers in the dining car? You know: real SPYS! I think they should try that out again. Uzis and exploding factories are getting a little stale.
One last thing: ever see that episode of The Simpsons where Homer's secretary has left, but leaves him a cue-card speech to deliver, and Homer says (v/o) "I have spelt the more difficult words Fo Net Ik All Eee". I just remembered that when Denise Richards says "Ah! The Ree Ak Tor". Lol.
On a sadder note, the London Film Festival Screening of 'Being J M' has sold out, and I will have to wait until January now to see it. Sob.
