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Also @RC7 I agree that DC's Bond shouldn't be wisecracking all the time but I don't think actors who make wisecracks betray their lack of acting chops. I think Connery's a fine actor and he delivered all of the quips splendidly without losing credibility as an actor. Well said both of you though @bondjames
Absolutely. You can argue that the one liners are no longer relevant in today's world (and I wouldn't disagree with you) but it all comes to down to delivery and no one could do it like Connery and Moore.
This imho is an example of the sort of 'tacked on witticism' that can potentially fall flat to some ears.
Hopefully we see less of this, or at least some thing better thought out if they must resort to a one liner after a fight.
Make this The Post of the Year as far as I'm concerned!
Yes, I think it's about tone, character and context. It has to feel like it's Daniel's Bond saying it. With Connery and Moore you absolutely believe the delivery because it's intrinsically tied to their persona. Dan is better when his lines aren't necessarily funny in and of themselves, but in the context of the scene (Connery and Moore were obviously decent at both). His delivery of 'open the door' in the tube scene in SF cracked me up, I buy that that's his sense of humour and persona. Absolute stone cold classic lines like, 'I'm afraid you've caught me with more than my hands up' and 'Speak now, or forever hold your piece' wouldn't work in the context of a DC Bond, I don't believe. They're too knowing. I think it gets tricky because people see 'one-liners', much like 'gadgets', as a trope of the movies, but as with the latter it's not always necessary in the context of the film and will ultimately feel consciously shoe-horned in. I feel similarly with Dalton. His line 'He got the boot' is similar (nowhere near as bad) to Dan's, 'I got in some deep water'. They feel like relics of a bygone era, a safety net (no pun), but it's lack of context leaves it feeling flat and completely unfunny. It's not what the Dalton Bond would say. I really hope SP uses Dan's talent for humour in an apt way and not in a cliched, nostalgic way.
Your post or the one you quoted? Or maybe this one?
One of the main reasons I'm not a huge QOS fan is that, aside from Craig's solid performance, it rarely (if ever) feels like a Bond film. I think Mendes very much understands how to keep Bond relevant (delivering a film that feels very much of this day and age) while still keeping Bond BOND.
Now I'm certainly off topic. Anyways - tl;dr - I agree with you. It's all about tone, character, and context. I think a few of Daniel's "one liners" have worked well ("Good luck with that" in the Komodo den landed nicely in my opinion) but only when they organically extend from the tone and the scene itself.
Or little fingers. *shudders*
I don't want a return to the comedic side of Bond. I just want a return to an experienced Bond out in the field, with no trust issues, no hokey insights into Bonds past. It's time to cut the umbilical cord, and let Bond work in the field on his own. Or as Bond put it in DAD...
"Maybe it's time you let me get on with my job."
The one I quoted of course. I never blow my own trumpet you know! ;)
I wouldn't mind at all a return to some of the comedic side. But I definitely agree with you on every other sentence. Absolutely tired of the "hokey insights into Bond's past" and the trust issues etc. It's all so played out.
Shame that it's pretty clear that SPECTRE will be following suit in that regard for the most part, but I'm holding my judgmental tongue until after the film is released. Hopefully it'll blow me away, but I'm keeping my expectations in check. Seems like more of the hokey insights are coming our way come November.
And to be honest, when you watch DAF, it's clear that this direction was not down to Moore alone. The series was already well done that road before he was even cast. Infact, LALD is probably more back to basics in terms of comedy than DAF.
It absolutely suited his Bond and it's why I consider him to be one of the best to do it.
It is not the right time or place to go completely back to the camp of DAF, YOLT, MR, OP, etc. (though sometimes I wish it was!), but humor has always been an integral part of the Bond movies that always needs to be present.
Even Casino Royale and yes, there I said it, Quantum of Solace, had a nice balance of humour for me. It doesn't have to be a lot of it, if the few puns are good and fit the film as a whole.
If you ever played GoldenEye on n64, when you kill some enemies they go bolt upright and hold onto their crotch when they die. Something like that could make a nice subtle reference were it used in SP.
I do believe, however, different generations respond differently to humor. A few years ago here in the states, an uproar occurred when Conan O'Brien replaced Jay Leno on The Tonight Show and was then replaced by Leno. Older viewers tended to regard O'Brien as silly and sophomoric, whereas younger viewers thought Leno was old school and predictable.
As a boomer, a lot of today's humor just doesn't work for me. Films such as The Interview or A Million Ways to Die in the West simply are not funny. Unending F-bombs and crude humor don't work for me--and I'm no prude.
While marketers target a younger demographic, I suspect the Bond series is unique in that its original viewers from the sixties still make up a substantial part of today's audiences.
I have no problem with the inclusion of more humor if it is organic. Does it arise naturally from the moment, or is it something that exists for no reason other than
to call attention to itself?
As for the DC series, there's actually a lot of humor in the films, but it is often subtle and low-key.
Two of my favorite moments from CR are when he tells Vesper her fictional last name
will be Broadchest, and then his pleasant surprise at the martini he has made up.
No chewing the scenery here.
Very well put sir. I couldn't agree more, and I'm not a boomer.
At the end of the day, a lot of the humour that's foisted upon us these days is unsubtle - If it sells then it's an unfortunate statement on the intellectual standards of today's society.
I really enjoy the understated, intelligent, sarcastic, biting contextual humour that we have been given to date in the Craig era, and I can't wait to hear more.
As a related aside, I recently watched Easy A with the incredibly charismatic Emma Stone. That genre of film (teenage) is not my normal fare, but I was amazed by the mature humour in that movie, even though it catered to a younger demographic. Excellent movie and I highly recommend it.