007 No Time to Die Trailer

For the most part I've enjoyed Daniel Craig's Bond movies but when I heard the rumors that Lashana Lynch was to take the title of 007 I had reservations. With all the wokeness in Hollywood; Ghostbusters 2016, Terminator Dark Fate, Charlie's Angels, Captain Marvel if UA & Universal wanted to destroy this franchise who am I to stop them. But after seeing the trailer I have hope that won't be the case. I think this is Craig's final Bond film and it looks like he's gonna go out with a bang, I'm glad to see Lea Seydoux is back from Specter and looking forward to seeing how far the rabbit hole goes.
I really love how Craigs bond series really builds upon itself with each new entry, my favorite 2 are Casino Royale and Skyfall.

Movie Review: Spectre

Let me begin by saying more than any other Bond, Daniel Craig's 4 films feel the most cohesive, Quantum of Solace works better when viewed with Casino Royal, and it's almost a prerequisite to have seen the previous 3 films prior to watching Spectre.
After the spectacular job Sam Mendez did with Skyfall I was really excited to see him return for Spectre, I liked the choice of Chistoph Waltz as the main villain who was a total homage to Diamonds are Forever villain of the same name.
Spectre is littered with so many homages to older Bond movies it's staggering like this scene...



Which hearkens back to Bonds encounter with Auric Goldfinger back in 1965...



The cast for Spectre is Spectacular and I just want to say for those making an issue about Monica Bellucci being too old to be a Bond Girl, first off she's not a Bond Girl. Bellucci is a woman thru and thru, when Bond Girls grow up they hope they look like Monica Bellucci! I have to agree with Uncle Paulie...my only problem with Bellucci's character was the ridiculous lack of screen time! Personally I think the opening shot was cool but it could've been shaved down a bit and that time allotted to the Bond / Sciarra scene.
As for the actual Bond Girl in Spectre, Lea Seydoux (Dr. Madeleine Swann) totally impressed me in Blue is the Warmest Color earlier this year (fantastic film!) and again in Spectre!

Another aspect of Daniel Craigs Bond movies I appreciate is the way the women are portrayed as strong, self assured women iso damsels in distress. There were some incredible moments between Bond and Swann such as the scene in Blofeld's secluded desert base where she knows she's going to die but continue's forward with Bond with fearless conviction and the entire time on the train especially the fight against David Bautista's Mr Hinx.
Which brings me to my next gripe with Spectre....Mr Hinx! There have been some very memorable minions in the Bond films....Jaws, Oddjob, Pussy Galore, Xenia Onatopp....Mr Hinx comes across as a Cyberdyne systems model 101 more than a henchman for Spectre. The car chase scene between Hinx and Bond unfortunately was forgettable, I didn't get the goosies watching the gorgeous DB10 and Jaguar C-X75 race around Rome.
As I mentioned at the beginning, Craig's Bond films have a cohesiveness to them and I believe Spectre was attempting to tie together all the past villains and organisations under one umbrella organization, did they accomplish that goal? Yes but in my opinion not as well as it could've, I do believe Christoph Waltz was the best choice for the role, the reason I say that was the opening scene in Inglorious Basterds....the way he masterfully transitioned from a sympathetic Nazi just doing his duty to a maniacal villain has to be witnessed, and we saw a bit of that with "dentist chair" in Spectre but not to the same degree and unfortunately without that Blofeld never elevated beyond the other villains in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall.  And in turn I never felt Spectre was the head umbrella organization without a heavy dose of exposition from Blofeld.
The whole diatribe about James and Blofeld's father made the rivalry between the two too personal and detracted from the Super Villain/organization vs Super Secret Agent/ MI6.
And then there's Denbigh and the 9 eyes project....

Fear not though we have Q (Ben Whishaw) MI6's wizard class hacker to help 007 unravel the mystery's of the one ring...










I also have to say I miss the relationship between Dame Judi Dench's M and Craig's Bond, nothing against Ralph Fiennes but the dynamic isn't the same.
For all the drama that took place between Bond and Moneypenny in Skyfall there was surprisingly little interaction between them aside from the scene where she brings his personal effects to his apartment.
All the ingredients for a great 007 movie are in Spectre...Gorgeous women, high end sports cars, exotic locales, secret bases, shadowy organizations, evil villains, larger than life henchmen, breathtaking action and yet Spectre was not as enjoyable as Skyfall.

B-

Did you know Christopher Nolan and Albert R Broccolli were considering collaborating on a Batman Vs Spectre movie??? Bet ya didn't...test screenings didn't go so well but I have a clip from the scrapped project for you!

Movie Review: Skyfall

Daniel Craig returns for his third outing as Commander Bond in Skyfall.
In many ways this film felt much more akin to Casino Royal in it's pacing and scope.
Just as Casino Royale was a  reintroduction to Bond and was a more personal story about James Bond, Sky Fall's focus is mainly on M and MI6.
Throughout the movie we are told that the old ways of doing things are outdated....no need for exploding pens when we can get the same results from a few clicks of a mouse....  

   For me the theme of Skyfall was the old school  vs technology which brings us to Istanbul Turkey where Bond is tasked with retrieving a hard drive  that contains the identities of undercover MI6 agents throughout the world from an assassin.
In Skyfall M (Judi Dench) faces harsh criticism from Gareth Mallory, (Ralph Fiennes) the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee for the the loss of the hard drive, costing the lives of multiple operatives, the attack on MI6 HQ as well as her continued support for the cloak and dagger shadowy espionage operations.
This time around Bond isn't uncovering a sinister plot by an evil organization to control natural resources or something so grandiose, no, this time the threat is much closer to home. The villain is a former MI6 agent Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) who's target is M. Bond returns to active duty after hearing about the attacks on MI6 and it is apparent he has lost his edge.

This theme isn't new and was done well in Live Free or Die Hard, in fact the motives of both films villains; Thomas Gabriel and Raoul Silva are revenge against their former employers via hacking their systems are almost identical.

I really enjoyed Skyfall,  I understand there are many people who don't like Daniel Craig as James Bond, and that's fine you can keep your invisible cars, laser wrist watches and witty one liners, I prefer my flawed Bond that'll kill his enemies with his hands just as easily as his Walther PPK.  

One of the great things about Skyfall is we see the continued evolution of Daniel Craig's Bond in Skyfall, he's not as brash as he was in Casino Royal, but when pushed he will resort to use what ever means necessary to complete the mission including his apparent fondness for construction vehicles.
By far Skyfall is one of the most beautiful Bond movies to watch, the sets are a delight to behold such as the vibrant neon colors in the Shanghai scene, the ferry boat ride in Macau, to the unforgettable scene of the Skyfall estate burning in the night sky.

Skyfall is as much about Bond as it is about M, Judi Dench has a significantly increased amount of screen time in Skyfall compared to the previous 6 Bond films she's been in. This is due to her character being the epi-center of the controversy and Raoul Silva's motive for his actions.
I liked Bardem's character, he was defiantly a more threatening villain than Dominic Greene from Quantum of Solace. Of the three Craig Bond films to date I still prefer Le Chiffre over all.
I enjoyed the dialog between Bond and Silva on the deserted island base, it was reminiscent of the torture scene in Casino Royale. And when Bond told Silva it wasn't his first time while sitting in the chair I laughed out loud....my wife missed the reference:/
The story became even more enjoyable after Bond apprehends Silva and brings him back for interrogation and discovers the truth about his identity and relationship to M. From this point on the story becomes very fascinating as Bond has to be thinking "Am I just another pawn to M like Silva?" So now M finds herself cornered by Parliament,  Silva, and possibly the loyalty of Bond! And Silva realizes this and plays into Bonds insecurities.
Skyfall is a beautiful film and a great Bond movie, definitely worth the cost of seeing at the movie theater!  This movie is definately one worth getting on Blu Ray when it comes out. Great Story, Good Villain, Gorgeous sets, Fantastic performance by Judi Dench, Daniel Craig continues to impress as 007, Strong Supporting cast....everyone feels necessary and well developed regardless of screen time.

A  

Skyfall Teaser trailer

The trailer for Bond 23 hit web today, I like the aesthetics and the mystery....everything looks fresh and new, no clear connection to CR or QoS.

Bond 23 officially titled SkyFall

Bond 23 has a title Skyfall, and a villian...Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men).
The official plot synopsis reads;
"As MI6 comes under attack 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost."