007
So I went to watch the new Bond movie yesterday. I really liked it. I have always watched the Bond franchise, and enjoyed it very much, but there was a part of me that always felt a little bit guilty about it. It just seemed somewhat wrong for me as a woman to enjoy a franchise (at least in the more recent versions) that is premised upon, beneath the entertaining eye-candy visual spectacles, some rather macho, chauvinistic elements: a womanizing spy, the super gadgets/toys, the cartoonish violence. The only justification for all of it seemed to be that James Bond does all of this with style, which, I'll admit, is definitely persuasive and appealing, hence I wouldn't have seen all of those movies.
This new Bond, however, makes me feel a lot less guilty. First, the women (okay, only one of them) actually have complex characters. Second, I really liked that this movie showed us that Bond actually feels the effects of the violence he engages in (both on a physical and psychological level), making it more realistic and less glamourized. I also really liked how the movie throws in a hint of class politics, suggesting that Bond is actually from a less privileged background and somehow learns to transform his training as a killer into a gentlemanly style. I don't know if this is actually in the original novel, but I thought this detail was really smart, and added so much more complexity for the character. Class is such a big deal in British culture--making a difference in ways that is so hard for us as Americans to comprehend--that just the slight introduction of this facet of 007 was really interesting.
Daniel Craig isn't a handsome actor by any means, but he was magnetic. Striking. Really acted with his facial expressions and actions more than words. (Still, the numerous bare-chested and rising-out-of-the-ocean scenes were a little gratuitous.) I'm still really blown away by his reinvention of Bond as a cold, raw, and dangerous killer. So different than the previous smirky Bonds. Eva Green is the most beautiful French actress ever. I hope she gets cast in more movies. Now I really want to visit all of those breath-taking European vistas, like Lake Como and Montenegro!
This new Bond, however, makes me feel a lot less guilty. First, the women (okay, only one of them) actually have complex characters. Second, I really liked that this movie showed us that Bond actually feels the effects of the violence he engages in (both on a physical and psychological level), making it more realistic and less glamourized. I also really liked how the movie throws in a hint of class politics, suggesting that Bond is actually from a less privileged background and somehow learns to transform his training as a killer into a gentlemanly style. I don't know if this is actually in the original novel, but I thought this detail was really smart, and added so much more complexity for the character. Class is such a big deal in British culture--making a difference in ways that is so hard for us as Americans to comprehend--that just the slight introduction of this facet of 007 was really interesting.
Daniel Craig isn't a handsome actor by any means, but he was magnetic. Striking. Really acted with his facial expressions and actions more than words. (Still, the numerous bare-chested and rising-out-of-the-ocean scenes were a little gratuitous.) I'm still really blown away by his reinvention of Bond as a cold, raw, and dangerous killer. So different than the previous smirky Bonds. Eva Green is the most beautiful French actress ever. I hope she gets cast in more movies. Now I really want to visit all of those breath-taking European vistas, like Lake Como and Montenegro!
posted by mariyaya | 2:01 PM
2 Comments:
"Bond Begins."
haha, i wonder who that annoying girl was?! :)
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