I found myself unexpectedly charmed by this new, rougher version of 007. I don't think Daniel Craig is attractive, but as James Bond, he was. Not in the Pierce Brosnan "OMG what a beautiful man" way, no,Craig is attractive in the "save my life and I'll follow you wherever you go, even if you keep stumbling and was that really necessary?" way.
I believed him when he didn't seem affected by the death of whatever the name of the married woman on the Bahamas was. I didn't believe him later, after Vesper died, but I believed that he wanted to believe (it's the X-Files all over again!).
I loved how he kept pushing her into safety, urging her to take the stairs, leading her away from danger. I fell for Doctor Who at the exact moment he took Rose's hand in the Pilot to the 2005 series, so of course I enjoyed that display of, well, whatever it is. I loved the scene in the shower, and I loved how he didn't flirt with her (much) until they got together. Which, okay, I have no idea how it happened and why he wasn't suspicious about her throwing herself at him like that all of a sudden, but I can very much understand why he didn't say no. She really is beautiful. What followed had me thinking that I went into the wrong movie for a minute or so. Lovesick Bond on a beach, no thank you. Okay, I can buy that he really fell in love with her and that he'd react that way, especially if he never let himself fall in love before. But it's more the knowledge of these facts that makes me buy the scenario than the way it was represented on the screen. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if he had known about the money, loving her so much that he was willing to betray his country, and then would have had withdraw from that when he found out that she wanted the money not for herself, but for the terrorists, which would have let to the same thing: money gone, Vesper dead, only he would have had to crawl back to M, who had then wisely decided to forgive Bond, having total power over him for keeping the secret for the rest of his life.
Now, that would have been a fun turn of events.
M was fabulous, btw, I really enjoyed that we got to see more of her private life (she doesn't sleep in her office!). The rest of the movie isn't worth mentioning: stunts were spectacular to the point of being ridiculous, as always, there was almost no story, some nice cars (and a Ford. Who allowed the Ford to be there?), a good villain. I knew about the money thing as soon as Vesper entered the account number. If I had the chance to decide to which account 105 million dollar would go, I'd choose one of my own over one of the British government any time. So that outcome really wasn't a surprise for me. But I didn't suspect the whole story, which was still enjoyable enough. So enjoyable in fact that I consider watching the movie a second time.
In reaction to something Spiegel Online said about the new James Bond and sexism, I wrote two long essays here that I both deleted. They both lead to the same conclusion (and trust me, it wasn't the one I wanted):
I'm a sexist.
Or a chauvinist, or whatever you want to call it.
But I also like giving blowjobs, I guess that makes up for my sexism a little bit.
(Was that sexist again? *g*)
Tags: