One of my many out of touch opinions is I *hated* the Craig Bond movies, with the only exception being 'Quantum of Solace'. - ThreadSky

stephenkb.bsky.social • 1 day ago

One of my many out of touch opinions is I *hated* the Craig Bond movies, with the only exception being 'Quantum of Solace'.

Reposted from Stephen Bush

"Under American ownership in a fast-changing world order, though, you do wonder whose side he will now be on." Thoughtful piece on the business and culture of Bond-under-Bezos by Danny Leigh:

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chairmanmoet.bsky.social•1 day ago

I slowly discovered that actually I never liked Bond at all as I realised, sometime after the fact, that he falls between the two espionage stools of brainy le Carre (now Slow Horses) and brawny action-led Bourne.

stephenkb.bsky.social•1 day ago

So for me there's the third point of high camp, which the Moore films, the Brosnans and maybe half the Conneries hit.

katkyns.bsky.social•1 day ago

The old films are very diff to watch with the level of misogyny.

soggycrouton.bsky.social•17 hours ago

How do you dislike a post?

philjdore.bsky.social•1 day ago

They're so dull and ponderous! James Bond isn't supposed to be like that. James Bond is a Bugs Bunny cartoon with sex and guns.

stephenkb.bsky.social•1 day ago

Absolutely.

lines.snail.skin•1 day ago

What did you think of Craig himself? I ask because I was like, hmm I think I disagree with Stephen, I liked - wait -- and then I realised I'm not sure I actually liked any of the movies so much as enjoyed Craig in them sometimes.

alistairsmith.bsky.social•1 day ago

Suddenly I find myself questioning your analysis on all sorts of other topics.

moggsee.bsky.social•1 day ago

I wasn’t a fan of James Blonde either.

ronsmate.bsky.social•1 day ago

QoS was much better second time around. But I really enjoyed Skyfall.

andyinbrum.bsky.social•1 day ago

Considering the issues they had making it, the fact that QOS is remotely coherent is really amazing.

alpinemigrant.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yikes.

pljquinn.bsky.social•1 day ago

Quantum of Solace is his best film - shorter running time, politically aware, and the Tosca scene is the best sequence in any Bond film. But the theme song is crap.

daveymccallum.bsky.social•1 day ago

Woah, that’s way out there. Me and OH were only saying this morning that QofS was the very worst of the Craig films, though I’m happy to say on reflection, that the last one was actually the worst (including a dreadful, overblown Zimmer score).

monroetempleton.bsky.social•1 day ago

see I like QoS because despite its issues it did feel like a fresh take on Bond (in retrospect, it is also very funny that the baddie a caricature of Elon Musk) and a clear continuation from what Casino Royale was doing with "Bond but he's against the villains of the world"

stephenkb.bsky.social•1 day ago

Right, I think ultimately, none of them were for me, but at least Quantum I felt was for *somebody*.

monroetempleton.bsky.social•1 day ago

Skyfall was a crowd pleaser and I was pleased, but also embodies all the problems that Spectre and NTTD had, which is its breathless worship of Bond as icon and being written by Bond fans inspired by Bond films where the villains just feel too abstract compared to Le Chiffre and Greene

monroetempleton.bsky.social•1 day ago

in theory this isn't a difficult franchise to crack - its stories premises are all blunt simple and can be updated with mostly ease - but the Craig-era just had this weird over-complication and desire to be more than what it is without really knowing what it was

legalclaret.bsky.social•1 day ago

The final three were overlong, with far too much focus on personal battles. Probably about four minutes actual spying across the movies.

davidrobbo.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is such a bad take that even Brian Cox is reconsidering his whole stance on cancel culture, and has submitted a request to the Committee to remove you from public life

jtownsley.bsky.social•1 day ago

Whatever merits Quantum of Solace has as a film, it probably has the worst title in the whole franchise.

judy-inthecloud.bsky.social•1 day ago

Oh dear. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I've never taken it at all seriously, just enjoyed the action and the locations, both beautifully filmed. And I love Craig's acting - he'd been a favorite before he was cast, and now after.

See "Copenhagen" and "The Mother", both pre Bond. He's terrific.

strategyaaron.bsky.social•1 day ago

Shameless plug for this ep I did with @ptklein.com on Bond - including his #Justice4Quantum take…

https://open.spotify.com/episode/59p9pZBd5f3mTNZjsI7jkS?si=U1yYGXrARoa3wOmkiXr5yA

deadbeatdiva.bsky.social•1 day ago

Samsies but my exception is Skyfall because of Javier Bardem. Craig is actually not well suited for the role in MY humble opinion

joestclairford.bsky.social•1 day ago

I rewatch Quantum of Solice the other day and it's not as bad as people said at the time, it was let down a bit by the weak villain. Casino Royal was the best of the Craig bonds imo but that last one was awful, it was like they found a rejected Mission Impossible script down the back of the sofa.

sarabuschova.bsky.social•1 day ago

Agree!

jowilliams.bsky.social•1 day ago

They weren't funny any more.

ferguswalsh.bsky.social•1 day ago

They are bad films!

insystemtravel.bsky.social•21 hours ago

It was indeed quite crap.

minderbinder8.bsky.social•1 day ago

Me too - they took themselves so seriously.

stephenkb.bsky.social•1 day ago

Even the trailers were wearisome. If I never have to sit through another 30 second trailer in which an actor rasps 'England. Bond. Empire' as if this is deep or meaningful it will be too soon.

lessmarberry.bsky.social•1 day ago

Was it them becoming ensembles with M, Q & Moneypenny along for the ride, or Bond as a tragic Lost Boy? Or maybe some of the worst villains in the franchise?

sophiemason.bsky.social•1 day ago

No you are correct, they are bobbins and it's because Craig has zero charm, charisma

stephenkb.bsky.social•1 day ago

The weird thing is, Craig *does* have charisma in Knives Out. So why is he...like that...in the Bond films?

lucyberesford.bsky.social•1 day ago

I will not have you say a word against Mr Craig, for whom I have long been granted a *ahem* 'Hall Pass' 😲

sophiemason.bsky.social•1 day ago

In Knives Out he has a better script, a funny accent and a crowd of legendary co stars to bounce off. In Bond he is having to carry the whole show by himself and the scripts are terrible, and I don't mean "bird no make nest in bare tree" terrible, like just giving the poor guy zero to work with

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