What The Happened To James Bond? SPOILERS

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Where did James Bond go?Just saw "Quantum of Solace". It's good enough movie, but it sure isn't a James Bond movie.No Moneypenny?No Q?No gizmos at all (except an off-the shelf camera phone)? Didn't do the hot Bolivian chick?"Bolivian Secret Service"?.. Come on...Never once said "Bond, James Bond.."?Not a single witty one-liner in the whole movie?Drinks something with a "lemon twist"?Lets a chick (the one he doesn't do, no less) drive him around in (i) a Ford Fiesta and (ii) a Volkswagen Bug?Almost gets the crap kicked out of him by the pansy-ass wimpy antienvironment villain?No evil henchman to thwart?Drinks himself silly because he's caught up over the dead Bond girl from the last movie?"Quantum of Solace"? What the Hell is that?The point of the mission is to rescue Bolivian farmers from water-hoarders? No Bond theme music until the end credits?Both America and Britain are lousy oil hog rogue nations on the bad guy's payroll?No exploding/self-destructing device with a countdown timer to stop? No secret island/mountain/submarine/space station to infiltrate (the silly Bolivian fuel cell hotel doesn't cut it)?The movie is just a run-of-mill action flick. The new guy does his job well, he just isn't playing James Bond.Ian Fleming must be spinning in his grave.

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[nq:1]The movie is just a run-of-mill action flick. The new guy does his job well, he just isn't playing James Bond. Ian Fleming must be spinning in his grave.[/nq]
Well, you know that other JB guy didn't need all of that high-falutin' stuff, right?

The Peripatetic Samurai Robot

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I've read all of the James Bond novels and even a collection of James Bond short stories. The kind of Bond movies you pine for are far in spirit from Fleming's fiction, they were tons of fun but they were cartooney, even with Sean Connery's gravitas.

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[nq:1]Where did James Bond go?[/nq]
He turned left because of Paul Haggis and the others who wrote it.

(Now I'll just sit here tapping my fingers waiting for Rabid to chime in with "Jealous!!!?")

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[nq:1]Where did James Bond go? Just saw "Quantum of Solace". It's good enough movie, but it sure isn't a James Bond movie. No Moneypenny? No Q? No gizmos at all (except an off-the shelf camera phone)? Didn't do the hot Bolivian chick? "Bolivian Secret Service"?.. Come on... Never once said "Bond, James Bond.."? Not a single witty one-liner in the whole movie? Drinks something with a "lemon twist"? Lets a chick (the one he doesn't do, no less) drive him around in (i) a Ford Fiesta and (ii) a Volkswagen Bug? Almost gets the **** kicked out of him by the pansy-*** wimpy antienvironment villain? No evil henchman to thwart? Drinks himself silly because he's caught up over the dead Bond girl from the last movie? "Quantum of Solace"? What the **** is that? The point of the mission is to rescue Bolivian farmers from water-hoarders? No Bond theme music until the end credits? Both America and Britain are lousy oil hog rogue nations on the bad guy's payroll? No exploding/self-destructing device with a countdown timer to stop? No secret island/mountain/submarine/space station to infiltrate (the silly Bolivian fuel cell hotel doesn't cut it)? The movie is just a run-of-mill action flick. The new guy does his job well, he just isn't playing James Bond. Ian Fleming must be spinning in his grave.[/nq]
There's no Q, of course, becasue the actor playing him is deceased; however, he was replaced with John Cleese's M. So M's not in it, either?
W : (

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[nq:2]Where did James Bond go? Just saw "Quantum of Solace". ... James Bond. Ian Fleming must be spinning in his grave.[/nq]
[nq:1]There's no Q, of course, becasue the actor playing him is deceased; however, he was replaced with John Cleese's M. So M's not in it, either? W : ([/nq]
No, M (Bond's boss) got replaced with woman long ago and Q (the gizmo guy) got replaced with Cleese for a while but now he's gone.

The only gizmo in this new Bond's Aston Martin is a defibrillator (in the first movie), and he couldn't even work that by himself! He had to have his girlfriend work it for him to save his life.

Get that?
James Bond's GIRLFRIEND had to WORK THE GIZMO to SAVE HIS LIFE!

This sure as **** isn't any Bond movie.
James Bond doesn't drown himself in liquor pining away over the dead Bond girl from the last movie.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Where did James Bond go?[/nq]
[nq:1]He turned left because of Paul Haggis and the others who wrote it.[/nq]
I don't think he's gone left - and I don't think it's down to Haggis. I think it's down to Wilson and Broccoli who've suddenly realised that what they need is an arc.
They felt the need for some kind of emotional closure from the events of Casino Royale (the 2006 movie), which just wasn't necessary as they never bothered much with continual references to Diana Rigg's character after OHMSS (a brief mention in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and a visit to her grave in the FOR YOUR EYES ONLY pre-credits bit). Certainly they never bothered infusing DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER with emotional closure scenes beyond the pre-credits revenge bit. I'd also need to look at it again, but I don't think the second Fleming novel makes much mention, if any, of it either.

There's a line in THE HAND where freshly amputated cartoonist Michael Caine looks in horror at the work from his new artist, who has brought in a tragic love interest for Caine's superhero creation: "You do not cut the ***** off Superman!". Well, that's really what they've done with Bond here.

We don't want emotional angst and drunken binges, any more than we want to watch Bond paying his gas bill, buying milk, changing nappies or making himself a cheese sandwich. If he sees a doctor, it's because he's been shot, knifed or thrown off a train, not because he's got the clap or the flu, or is a bit depressed. That's for real life and if we wanted that we wouldn't bother going to the cinema.
What we, as an audience, want from Bond is two hours or so of hot chicks, fast cars, diabolical masterminds, ingenious gadgets, comedy henchmen and *** blowing up. Car chases, motorbike chases, tank chases, foot chases, ski chases, boat chases, helicopter chases, horse chases. Now that's something that any number of Jason Stathams, Jean Claude Van Dammes and Jet Lis will provide, and even the occasional foray into crash bang wallop territory by respected Big Name Actors like Liam Neeson (TAKEN may be nonsense but it is terrific entertainment), but Bond does it with style and with class.
I don't see much style and class in the new Bond. Bond can tell from one dab of caviar that it came from North of the Caspian, and that was when he was played by George Lazenby. One great moment of Bond is when he fails to spot the bad guy who ordered red wine with fish, and that's back in 1962. We never got quite the same thing with Roger Moore, as it veered into camp pantomime; Dalton got a little of the seriousness back and Brosnan smoothed it all out again.
And while Craig is rough rather than smooth, there are some nice moments in CASINO ROYALE. But they - Wilson and Broccoli, Craig and Forster (though how much input the last two had in a franchise that's so closely managed by the first two) - dropped that for an uneasy combination of Bourne-inflected action (big mistake) and inner turmoil (big mistake). I don't think it's down to Haggis - he does what he's told. The script is as good as you can expect; the film falls down on the story and direction, especially in the action scenes. Well, the story is by Wilson, and he's the guy who chose Forster. So it's ultimately his (and Broccoli's) fault.

(The movie could also have done with a halfway decent theme song that wasn't just two people apparently yelling at each other in different keys.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]He turned left because of Paul Haggis and the others who wrote it.[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't think he's gone left - and I don't think it's down to Haggis. I think it's down to ... done with a halfway decent theme song that wasn't just two people apparently yelling at each other in different keys.)[/nq]
I'm pretty sure Paul had a heavy hand in it. After all, he won two Oscars in a row, which is more than most Bond writers have done so I think they deferred to him. Just an educated guess from someone who knew him a long time. And he's all touchy-feely bleeding heart let's try this Canadian.

What The Happened To James Bond? SPOILERS

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