Craig and Beyond
iommi
Posts: 13MI6 Agent
I've always been a supporter of Craig. I always knew he would play a great character on screen, despite sometimes having difficulty seeing him as the Bond character that I knew. After the passing of time, he now seems like hes going to be one of the best Bonds.
But this is my question. After Craig has finished his role as Bond, where should we go with the character from here? I am equally as passionate about the harder edged Bonds as (Dalton, Connery) as I am with the smooth, more comedic ones (Moore, Brosnan). I am so excited about CR (make that ecstatic!) me and my friend are even going to see it wearing Tuxedo's!!!! But I was thinking about the future of James Bond, and I think what keeps the series going is the constant variation in interpretations and diverse portrayals of Bond.
With this in mind, after Craig's reign, how about a couple of light hearted comedy Bond movies from a Moore-style actor.
One guy I thought of- Cary Ewles (Saw, Robin Hood: Men in tights). I appreciate he is American, and I think Bond should always be played by a British person (no American could convey the same voice language as someone like Craig, or Connery, and, just to be fair, I suppose the same is true of the British pretending to be American!), but perhaps with Cary Ewles I could make an exception. Watch him in The princess Bride, plus his accent is pretty good.
Just for a couple of films, I'd like to see the comedy back again, before perhaps returning to once again a harder edged Bond.
What do you think?
But this is my question. After Craig has finished his role as Bond, where should we go with the character from here? I am equally as passionate about the harder edged Bonds as (Dalton, Connery) as I am with the smooth, more comedic ones (Moore, Brosnan). I am so excited about CR (make that ecstatic!) me and my friend are even going to see it wearing Tuxedo's!!!! But I was thinking about the future of James Bond, and I think what keeps the series going is the constant variation in interpretations and diverse portrayals of Bond.
With this in mind, after Craig's reign, how about a couple of light hearted comedy Bond movies from a Moore-style actor.
One guy I thought of- Cary Ewles (Saw, Robin Hood: Men in tights). I appreciate he is American, and I think Bond should always be played by a British person (no American could convey the same voice language as someone like Craig, or Connery, and, just to be fair, I suppose the same is true of the British pretending to be American!), but perhaps with Cary Ewles I could make an exception. Watch him in The princess Bride, plus his accent is pretty good.
Just for a couple of films, I'd like to see the comedy back again, before perhaps returning to once again a harder edged Bond.
What do you think?
Comments
That's funny how the Bonds are percieved by many; I never thought that Brosnan was more comedic. Smooth yes but comedic?
If anything he was more in the Connery bracket and Dalton was off on his own with his more sterner portrayal. With the exceptions of TSWLM & FYEO, Moore's missions were so outlandish that they could be considered madcap...I do LOVE Octopussy though.
Any comic relief Brozzy might be accused of I attribute to the sub-par writing of P&W.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
The next Bond will be somebody none of us have likely heard of yet.
As to the style...great question. Craig appears to be resetting the Bond table so to speak, I think it'll be much tougher for EON to go with the lighter Moore/Brosnan style actors.
Think of it this way: if Lazenby had done a couple more Bond films, would Moore have followed him (toss out age considerations for the moment)? The transition from DAF to LALD was damn near seamless, but that was predictated IMO on Connery's near-camp protrayal in DAF setting us up (in hindsight) for Moore's Bond. If Lazenby had continued in the role, I don't think the films would have lightened as they did--in fact given the built-in revenge storyline post-OHMSS, I think '71 would have seen the darkest Bond yet, if Lazenby had continued. Maybe not, Cubby and Harry really liked to keep things family-centric, but I just don't see the focus going so far to the self-reverantial funny as it did with DAF/LALD, and by Lazenby's departure in the mid-70s...well I don't know who they would've been looking at for Bond, maybe Moore, but I suspect they would have chosen someone else. Not sure who, just not Moore, the transition seems odd to me. Lazenby would've been doing fine as Bond popularity-wise (IMHO), so building on that would've been EON's priority IMO.
Flash forward, and after Craig could a Moore-type actor take over? Maybe, but I see more of a Matthew Goode-type taking over, and EON building on the foundation laid with Craig. EON felt they had a reason to change after DAD, they'll have to feel that way post-Craig to upset the applecart again like this, they generally like smoother transitions, IMO. I hope they stay away from the lighter Bond myself, cinematic Bond can be bold and dark and sweaty--like the books--they just have to do them like that well. I like what Campbell has said about CR--going for a FRWL-style Bond, that should be the ideal they're shooting for IMO, not the bloated YOLT/TSWLM/ad nauseum-style cartoon Bond. Not that those can't be fun, just view them as lesser efforts and quickly forgotten. The character-driven Bonds are the ones that stick with me, hope EON makes a lot more of them, with Craig and the with the next guy too.
I wouldn't describe any of the Bonds as comedic. Moore was silly at times but I never once said to myself, "I would like to watch a comedy tonight. My choices are Austin Powers, When Harry Met Sally and Moonraker."
Pidgeon Double Take...
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Oh please, let's not go there again...
I wouldn't say YOLT and TSWLM are quickly forgotten Bonds. Possibly YOLT is the most iconic of Bond films, and TSWLM is not far behind. We must remember that in general, the sort of characteristics present in these kind of Bond films, i.e mad- villain planning world war 3, stupid gadgets and lairs etc etc are what people in general associate with the Bond films more than anything else.
Above all, my comment is that these Bond films as you say are undeniably 'fun'. I am very pleased with what the producers have done regarding Daniel Craig, the more hard edged grittier Bond and focusing more on character rather than gadgets.
I am just curious as to whether this is going to be the continuing style for the franchise from now on.
I wouldnt like to rule out the idea of having a silly over the top, moonraker style of film in the future, that is all. For the present though, I feel the producers have got it exactly right.
Perhaps I made a mistake in calling Brosnan more of a comedic Bond, I was just comparing him to Moore in terms of his smoothness, and his sense of humour.
The Broccolis should probably stay with someone who can play a hard-edged character, but with a somewhat lighter touch. Perhaps they can reconsider Hugh Jackman, who would still be young enough for 2 to 3 films. Another excellent candidate would be Christian Bale, who can be just as tough as Craig, but can also play the suave, charming side of the character well.
He would have also been great, I think.
No I don't think these are good suggestions. I think it would be silly to get a new Bond who is so famous. I prefer people who arn't known so well, because we can go into the cinema without to many preconceptions as to what their acting stle and personality is like. We can make fresh judgements.
Perhaps my suggestion of Cary Ewlves wasn't great, but I just like the idea of a few more silly Bond movies for the future, once again despite how well I think the producers of done with Casino Royale. Lets have a few more Royale's, then a couple of Moonrakers. Thats all I mean
Are we in the Bizarro World now, Expect
I haven't seen him play something with the intensity that the role of Bond requires so I can't judge his aptitude really. I know he cleans up better than this dorky pic...
Elwes is Brit-bred; does he still have anything of an accent left like in his earlier films or has it completely washed out?
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
They're both good candidates but I somehow doubt Eon will be willing to sign major movie stars to play James Bond.Eon's always been fairly tight with their money.
What Eon might do is to go back to Henry Cavill or Alex O'Lachlan,both of whom they'd already officially screentested and shown interest in--especially Cavill--before Craig was eventually signed.Or they could even go with Jack Davenport,who looks more like the Ian Fleming version of 007 than Craig does.
As for Elwes?He's in his late 40s now and although he's still handsome, he doesn't much resemble the boyish picture posted of him here.I've seen him in more recent films and yes,he definitely can play serious dramatic characters.
Ah well, lot's of time before we need go down this well-trampled road again ...
I like Jack, but he's a bit of a chinless wonder: Craig and Bale are more believably the alpha male- Jack's more of an average guy. He doesn't quite fit Bond for me.
Fine.
I really do think that Cavill may have the best shot at following Craig.Eon knows him,they've tested him,and by the time Craig departs(probably after about 4 movies), Cavill will be in his 30s.
Or some genius could appear out of nowhere who Eon will decide is so perfect for the part that he'll be immedidately signed up and anyone Eon looked at previously will be immediately forgotten.
Fans I know who have seen the tests say that Cavill was actually very good.
If you might recall, there was a time when I was actually advocating that a sock puppet be used to play 007.A kind of muppet Bond.Less expensive than replacing any human and the voice talent wouldn't cost much.Audiences wouldn't have to deal with the uncertainty of different actors playing the role ever again.No more trauma.Instead,they'd be reassured to see 007 continue having exactly the same features for as long as the series continued.No more adverse reaction to an unfamiliar face.I'll bet Eon would embrace such penny pinching.;)
And let's not ignore animation.
It'll come one day....
Henry Cavill is the Bond of the future. :007)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM