Blog: Bond must get back to what makes 007 great

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHKPF0u77o4

Blog: With an Oscar-winning actor playing the baddie, and an Oscar-winning director at the helm, the signs are certainly looking good for the 23rd James Bond film, which starts shooting next month, writes Carl Jones.

Javier Bardem showed his sinister side in a magical role as a hitman in No Country For Old Men, which will whet the appetite of Bond fans yearning a return to days of larger than life evil megalomaniacs. The Spaniard's got to the potential to be one of the best Bond villains ever.

And Sam Mendes, who is in the director's chair for film we're all expecting to be called Skyfall, has shown enough in acclaimed projects such as American Beauty and Revolutionary Road to suggest he has the credentials to make another amazing and fascinating 007 film.

And let's face it, we need one.

After Daniel Craig's stylish reboot of the series in Casino Royale, the Bourne-style follow-up, Quantum of Solace, was a frenetically edited, disjointed mess.

For me, it was the worst Bond film ever made. No sweeping vistas, no memorable one-liners, and no villains worthy of a place in the hall of fame.

This latest film, after a protracted period of legally-mired hibernation, will be released at Shropshire cinemas in October next year to mark the 50th anniversary of Bond's screen debut.

Even by 007 movie standards, the hype will be stratospheric.

In true secret agent style, of course, details about the new film are currently for their eyes only.

All we know is that Craig's back for his third crack as Bond (more humour, Daniel, please), Judi Dench reprises her role as M (less globetrotting, ma'am, please), and Ralph Fiennes is linked to the project in a mystery role (a shady descendant of the Blofeld dynasty, pretty please).

Craig said today that he's excited at the new script, and keen to reintroduce more of the tried and tested Bond ingredients into the series. That's as close as he's come to acknowledging Quantum of Solace's shortcomings.

So, this latest film surely must involve Q and Moneypenny. British actress Naomie Harris is reported signed up as the latter, but there's (mercifully) no sign of John Cleese being dragged back as Desmond Llewelyn's replacement. His was one of the worst pieces of miscasting in the Bond series history. We need a gadgetmaster at secret agent HQ, but portrayed as a boffin, not a buffoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf4xw4mE2Xk

Other than that, we're led to believe there will be a major action set piece on a fast moving train in South Africa, and a climactic battle at a Scottish castle - perhaps Bond's family home, since his literary father was from the Highlands?

Craig will never be the best Bond in my eyes. I still reckon the role should have gone to Hugh Jackman when Pierce Brosnan was ordered to hand in his Walther PPK.

But there's no disputing Craig's commitment, intensity, and determination to give of his best in an era where spy thrillers are more Jason Bourne than Johnny English.

Let's just hope Craig's no-nonsense approach can be blended a little more with some of the Bondian traits which have made the franchise such a success over the past five decades.