Wednesday, August 8, 2012

"Skyfall" trailer - yippee!


Color me giddy: it's the new James Bond trailer - !!! And not a wimpy little teaser, either: we get a full-length, 2.5-minute long "wheeeeeeee!" -fest peppered with plenty of Daniel Craig's smug, unsmiling machismo and (of course!) car-flipping, flame-throwing, gun-blasting special effects.

Once upon a time, I owned every single James Bond movie ever made. To say "I lost them in the divorce" sounds cheesy, but.......alas, years ago my "let's keep this friendly" magnanimity got the best of Bond, and away went "Tomorrow Never Dies," away went "The Spy Who Loved Me," away went "Octopussy," away went "Thunderball," away went "Doctor No." Gone. All gone.

Now, maybe it's a sacrilege to tarnish the memory of the library loved and lost by saying this, but: I miss the Daniel Craig versions the least. Because dude is NOT James Bond. The Daniel Craig as James Bond movies are GREAT movies, but I have trouble reconciling the bottles of Bollinger and the "no means yes" cultural nuances of the 60's and the corny personal air- and watercraft that make up the lexicon of my Bond appreciation with the Serious, Brooding, BLONDISH Craig-Bond that seems now to be the de facto FAVORITE iteration of the hero. It's like the Borne reboot with Jeremy Renner. Movie looks good in its own right, but don't try to tell me it's the same character.

Because it's not.

Bond is a tuxedo and cheesy banter. Bond is a head of pomade-slick hair and a smirk. Bond is a smarmy come-on with the ladies. Bond's girl troubles are only ever one-movie long. Bond doesn't brood. Bond pops the cork and finds a classier broad with a sillier name. Bond (ok, fine) occasionally rides a cello case down a  snowy mountain. Bond lands in an enemy fortress and drinks their sake. When Bond gets hurt, he Ace-bandages that action and jumps back in the fight.

BUT: I love me an expensive action flick. I love big explosions, and expensive cars flipping end over end, and I love seeing a boat chase or a top-of-a-train chase, no matter what. I love antiheroes with unreconciled emotional scars that make them Angry Special Agents with Pent-Up Passion.

All of that said: this Daniel Craig Bond routine looks like it's giving a nod to the Bond of Old, right down to Javier Bardem's blonde homage to the villains of the Roger Moore era (I'm thinking of Christopher Walken in "A View to a Kill"). The set and cinematography look more indulgent than in "Quantum of Solace" (which, frankly, made me thirsty to watch...all of that sand, and desert and heat....). The "gondola inside the dragon's mouth" bit looks terrifically campy -- reminds me of the sort of grand, illusory sets and scenery of "From Russia with Love" or "Moonraker," some of the earlier Bond films with big flair.

Overall: I'm excited about it. Ralph Fiennes is back to looking well-groomed and seems frankly, delightfully ominous. This round of Bond girls look as lovely as ever. And toward the end of the trailer -- that moment where Bond leaps into the train car from out of nowhere and then straightens the cuffs on the suit?

Classic.

Can't wait.





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