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Comments
I would argue a thread that weaves across films of a shadow organization that has to be uncovered over time, is actually more compelling. That's CR (and Le Chiffre was written for them), but they didn't execute well thereafter. So now people just want stand alones because then maybe they'll have a better chance of getting it right. Maybe yes, maybe no. But I want a creative team that can deliver either.
I don't deny that, but they've just cocked it up for a second time. These films are being made less frequently and with more fluid creative teams.
The arc you suggest 'a thread that weaves across films of a shadow organization that has to be uncovered over time' - is precisely what I wouldn't want going forward. There's nothing appealing about that to me and we've just seen that in full flow. Besides, it may sound intriguing in principal, but in practice - with films running at a 3-4 year juncture - I don't feel it necessary.
Based on these factors my preference post-Craig would be to pursue tight standalone films that deliver great modern villains. SPECTRE and Blofeld should be reserved for a time when they can nail what Fleming intended, which may be never, in which case so be it.
A little like the Aston, we did without SPECTRE for 40+ years, let's focus on creating new iconography rather than continually pining for the past.
I would like a Bond arc, sans melodrama, in the next tenure, but with unique stories each time out.
Ditto !!
+1
Anothy Horrowitz Second bond novel
The truly excellent Dynamite Comic books currently reading Hammerhead and just wow
also if you are so inclined you can make bond fan trailers or fan music?
I think I'm having an erotic experience. Feels good.
Well, this fan got tired of the standalones and welcomed the greater arc promised by CR. It's just that Eon botched the execution of said arc.
I agree with you about a Bond arc. However, the melodrama is built into the Bond character. What is CR the novel, if not melodrama? Or the ending of MR the novel?
Exactly. They can botch either and have done so.
I don't want melodrama either, but technically, prior to retcon, SF was a standalone and fairly melodramatic.
I think we want the same thing, well executed films and are trying to set parameters under which they won't screw up. That's sad really and frustrating. They should be able to execute regardless of time between films. A plan as previously discussed would help.
I was also keen to see where CR took us, and welcomed it, but as you say it didn't live up to the promise.
I'm not necessarily sure if I'd term CR or MR as melodrama, perhaps merely drama, although I'll concede it if we're getting into semantics. Where CR works and SF/SP didn't, for me, is the trite soap opera mechanics between the key characters. It's this I'd be keen to avoid.
The biggest problem these days is that you have TV series and multiverses attempting to build (and at times achieving) multilayered arcs between characters that take their time to build and resolve the narrative. Audiences expect it. If you can't deliver that, don't. Bond has to operate outside that remit. Bond films are about Bond.
I didn't mean Silva himself, he was brilliant and one of my favourite villains. What I meant was the retconning of him into Spectre didn't really work. It just came across as so contrived to me: Silva is an unpredictable psychopath with a clearly personal motivation which he's prepared to die for. He's flamboyant and over the top and makes a point of telling Bond he makes his own missions. He was so clearly intended to be his own thing and a one off. And yet the writers and Mendes thought "yes, this guy fits perfectly into the concept of a secret organised crime syndicate" even though that basically represents the opposite of what the character was.
It was stupid imo and it's the only thing I really hate about SP. It annoys me even more because of how pointless it is: SF had already made its mark on the Craig era with the destruction of the MI6 building and M's death. There was already plenty of continuity with that film without making Silva part of Spectre too.
I could buy something like Blofeld using Silva as a pawn, using Spectre to sell him guns, mercenaries, etc, so that he can cause chaos and indirectly help push Nine Eyes through. But Silva being a Spectre agent (hence the ring), and therefore his insane, convoluted, completely illogical revenge plan being a Spectre scheme? Weakens the film, the character of Silva and the character of Blofeld (makes him look stupid) imo.
Its not that he doesn't do good on screen he just hasn't been put on screen properly
I get round it by just ignoring the idiotic retconn whenever I watch the earlier Craig entries. For me, SP is an alternative universe film. I don't take it seriously. Blofeld died down that chute in FYEO, Silva was his own man, and Quantum is still alive and well.
This is still how I view Skyfall today. I don't consider SPECTRE secretly behind the scenes, pulling all Silva's strings. It's too absurd an idea, and as stated completely at odds with Silva's hyper-emotional, revenge-driven crusade.
I just hope future entries don't make it even more difficult to simply view Skyfall as Skyfall. (Same goes for CR and QoS.)
Yes, that was the point I was making. Thanks for reiterating it.
It's unfair to compare the hidden Blofelds with the feature-length performances of Blofeld. I mean, even Pleasance could be edited as menacing with two minutes of screen time and another actor's voice.
The irony is that CR and QoS nicely built up the threat of Quantum just as DN-FRWL-TB did of SPECTRE, but both YOLT and SP ruined the main reveal of Blofeld. Perhaps the character is best left in the shadows, even in Bond 25.