Friday, December 5, 2014

I'll Get you Next Time Mr Bond, Next Time

(A Cat starts purring and snickering)

No that was not done in a James Bond film but rather from a villain inspired by it, the infamous Dr Claw from the Children's TV show Inspector Gadget.

But it is also appropriate as well as last night Australian time (about 10pm so some may have missed it) Columbia Pictures, MGM and veteran Bond producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced the latest James Bond film to be titled "Spectre" and will be released November next year.

The two main new casting announcements I took away from it were Christoph Waltz and Dave Bautista, don't get me wrong it is a great cast and production team they've assembled (though Lee Smith as Editor has me a little worried as his action editing in the past has not been impressive, relying too much on quick cuts, close ups and shaky camera work) but Waltz and Bautista were the main takeouts I took from the announcement in terms of the cast.

In terms of the crew cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (I sure hope he gave his Parents hell for that) will join the production team and it's a good choice as his cinematography in recent years in films Her and Interstellar were very good.

But overall I have to say that the announcement has made me very excited for this new film and the potential it promises in terms of being I think one of the great Bond films and there haven't been very many of them let's be honest with ourselves.

To my mind my 2 personal favorite Bond films are "From Russia with Love" and "Goldeneye" and the reason I feel that way about those films are that they had both an imaginative storyline that got me thinking about the stakes within the film as well as a great adversary for 007 to face off against and both of these things have been lacking in a great many Bond films.

Now this isn't entirely Wilson or the Broccoli family's fault as the Spectre organization and its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (who was originally going to appear in 1977's the Spy who Loved Me before Cubby Broccoli put the kibosh on those plans) have been at the centre of a rights dispute for many years that prevented the official Bond production team from using either of these characters.

But November last year that all changed as Wilson and Barbara Broccoli were able to reach a settlement with the estate of rogue Bond producer Kevin McClory who held the rights to both and with that out of the way do not be surprised if Waltz is indeed playing Blofeld in this new film and this is being hidden from fans until they see the film much like Benedict Cumberbatch was Khan and this was hidden by JJ Abrams and his team.

But to come back on point I think that this could be the great James Bond film that Daniel Craig's tenure has yet to produce as for me as much as I enjoyed Skyfall at the cinema I've had little desire to watch it again since same with Casino Royale and it's a shame as Craig is a fantastic 007 and ranks with Connery and Tim Dalton (who really laid a lot of the groundwork for Craig's tenure in the role) for me.

(As for Quantum of Solace well Props for Trying is as nice as I will get now about that film.)

And so that is my slightly rambling column about the new Bond announcement, its very exciting and very promising and I really hope all involved deliver the goods.

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