Repost - Quantum of Bonds

I have been in a Daniel Craig/James Bond mood lately so I thought I would repost something I wrote way back in October of '08. Were we ever that young?

"Today I have a hard on for the new James Bond movie 'Quantum of Solice' and for some reason this movie can't arrive soon enough. The trailers are awesome as well as the new song by Jack White and Alicia Keys -"Another Way to Die" - surely one of the great Bond songs. Like "The World Is Not Enough" by my beloved Garbage the song is stirring, musically complex and compelling, and above all fresh. Fresh is the word I would use for the whole Bond re-imagining that started with 'Casino Royale'.

To my surprise I find that Daniel Craig is the Bond I have been waiting for since Sean Connery ('Diamonds are Forever' was the first drive-in movie I ever saw). Tough, damaged, dangerous and lets me honest; a bit of a prick which are the exact character traits I look for in my super spies with a licence to kill operating in a global conflict for the highest stakes imaginable. Stripped down to its essentials Craig's Bond feels unburdened by continuity and silly toys and gets the heart of a hero. Its a full meal as oppossed to a snow cone -nutricious and filling. While I enjoyed Pierce Brosnan's Bond alot, he was a necessary transition from the horrible, gimmicky Bond movies that don't stand up as well over time. He was the perfect model for the Bond of the novels which is why he wore the role so well- a role he was born to play since we first saw him on Reminton Steele. We wouldn't have Daniel Craig if Brosnan hadn't shored up the foundation of the creeky Bond "house". Roger Moore was too much of a fop and dandy to be concidered dangerous and that more than anything lowered the quality of the Bond films that he starred in. I won't even go into the Timothy Dalton movies.

I am a big fan of Judy Dench also and as 'M' she again is the strong bridge connecting the last two Bonds. The weight of her qualties as an actress only adds to the strong adventure. Her personal feelings for Bond never get in the way of her realizing and accepting that while he is a "blunt instrument" he is the best man for the worst kinds of jobs. Bond doesn't need her respect or approval to do what he does so well but she remains the only one whose opinion of him and his job performance count. That is the highest level of respect he can give anyone. She is the one person he never wants to let down. She may scold him like a disobedient child for his refusal to do things the "offical" way but it seem tempered more by her desire to protect him than to bend him to her will. He is not just another employee. She uses her skills and experience to make him a better spy AND most importantly a better man. I see in her the hope that he will live long enough to succeed her and pass what he knows onto another protege in the future; a parent passing the company onto her offspring. The fact that it is eluded to that Bond is an orphan only strengthens my arguement."