Suit Up!

Hey guess what, there's a new Bond movie! Bond, like a good wine, only gets better with age.

When we first see Bond much of his face, like his past, is shrouded in shadow. He creeps into the light, illuminating his face, his perfectly tailored suit, and his situation; he’s on the hunt. This is our man, the Bond we know. Suited and armed, he proceeds with caution.

 Bond, suave and collected, engages in a shoot-out that seems almost like a pissing contest. Both contestants are trying to show off or outdo each other instead of kill each other.  It’s no surprise his adversary’s gun takes the shape of a phallic symbol. The inevitable car chase follows, with quick shots and shaky camera work. Sam Mendes loses no time in zooming in on Bond’s watch as he ever so casually lifts his arm to commandeer the wheel and send the car flying into their prey.  Crunching, smashing, panting, and zooming follows; but it’s not all onomatopoeia from there.  M sends this into chaos by consciously ordering the shot that may take out Bond. And it does, or so it seems.  With that one ringing shot, the familiar Bond is ended.

A Golden Oldie

            M makes the tough calls, as the film reminds us with repeated shots of a ceramic bulldog with the British flag painted across its back. M is branded with patriotism and makes the “bloody best calls” she can, as she reminds Bond.  Their sharp, yet loving banter throughout the film resembles a shadow of the Bonds of past. She is sentimental about Bond as her Boss dares to point out. But still, she is a bulldog.

When we see him again, he looks like hell.  Unwashed, soaked in alcohol and with a beard flecked with grey, James Bond is transformed. Perhaps he resents M for trigger-happy decisions. Well, at least he got a 3-months’ vacation from it. He returns to work, but he isn’t the same. He shuffles through the running test, wheezed through strength tests and I don’t even want to talk about the shooting range. The film often suggests that James is old, outdated, or past his prime. M’s boss, Ray Fiennes, questions whether James should think about retiring.  Are they talking about the agent or the franchise? This movie marks 50 years of James Bond, perhaps it’s time to throw in the towel as it were.  What’s your hobby, the villain asks. “Resurrection.”

Evil is as evil does.

Silver, the villain is the best Bond villain yet. He is Bond’s perfect foil. As he is first introduced, Silver tells Bond a story of how his grandmother trapped rats to keep them from eating coconuts. Instead of burning the rats or throwing them into the ocean, his grandmother chose to starve them so they would eat each other instead. They are reprogrammed so they only eat rat, he informs Bond. His speech is terrifying, not only because we’re worried about the mental health of his grandmother, but because his speech is erratic. He stumbles over the words, his pauses in all the wrong places, until he finally releases the last bit of information ever so slowly and menacingly. To call him an unstable evil genius is a gross understatement. A maniacal, insane child playing a game as sick and twisted as his anecdote is far more fitting. “Don’t lose your head” he giggles as he places a shot glass on a woman’s head in preparation for a test of William Tell-like marksmanship.  Bardem is phenomenal. Sometimes subtle and terrifying, other times hysterical, slightly humorous, and completely menacing, Bardem balances somewhere between calculating villain and overly emotional toddler. This villain embodies the sociopath, the narcissist, the unhinged manic, and a slight Oedipus complex in one neat package.  He is as theatrical as his garish, overly peroxide-treated locks.

There’s a New Man in Town

            Sam Mendes takes Bond in a whole new direction. From the opening credits sequence to the last images, He transforms bond into something completely new. The series has always been evolving, always changing but now, with Mendes at the helm, it ventures forward into uncharted waters. He creates a more artistic film. There are metaphors everywhere. In one particular symbolic scene, Bond heads into a gambling den associated with the villain. It is gated by a giant Chinese dragon head; he literally enters the mouth of the dragon. Mendes masters the blending of drama, humor, action, and style into one memorable film. It just may be the best Bond yet.  That doesn’t mean the series has to end with a bang. James Bond: 50 years young.






James, is that a gun in my face? Or am I just happy to see you(r new movie)?



















































































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