50 years of BONDing

Never in the history of modern cinema have a man who is 50 years and 23 films old have appealed to people across generation like James Bond. Sitting and watching the latest James Bond movie ‘Skyfall’ along with an octogenarian couple reminded me of the charisma of the man who had defined ‘adventure with class & style’ genre of movies. I am pretty sure the couple sitting behind me must have watched Sir Sean Connery bringing out Ian Flemings character from books to silver screen with the funding of Albert R. Broccoli. They must have witnessed Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan & Daniel Craig pass on the mantle of 007 serving Her Majesty’s secret service as a part of MI6. It’s indeed a long journey of a successful franchise. Barring Harry Potter no other franchise has survived this long.

My early memories of James Bond rovers around Pierce Brosnan. We grew up seeing him revitalize this franchise after not so memorable Timothy Dalton who has succeeded in withering away the fan following of 007.

James Bond has always personified a character with conflicting attitudes and yet he remained as the ultimate personification of male ego. Right from his shoes, glasses, watch and even his car had become a statement of style across generations. His womanizing skills have been tried and tested by generations. I will not go into the success rate of this method but I am sure that the fairer sex has borne the brunt of it. Every guy at some point of his life ordered ‘Vodka with Martini, shaken not stirred’ to the bartender. Such was the charisma of this secret service agent that people copied his way of introduction – ‘My name is Bond, James bond’. It’s another matter that it did not work out too well in some parts of India where the middle name tends to overshadow the first and last name by its sheer length.

Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have been the two Bond actors whom I have seen in the short span of my life so far. Undoubtedly Pierce Brosnan was better but in an uncanny way Daniel Craig portrayed a more Humane Bond. A Bond that feels pain bleeds when hurt, gets over powered physically. I think both these talented actors have done justice to the character of 007

After seeing ‘Skyfall’ the only question that I had in my mind was “What Next?” . We have seen Department Q Change, Money Penny Change, M Change, So is it time for Daniel Craig to go? It would be rather interesting to see how this franchise reboots itself? The succession of Daniel Craig from Pierce Brosnan wouldn’t have been easy if the directors did not decide to change the character of James Bond.

"Skyfall” marks the 50^th year of for the man who lived life on edge. I am sure all the fans want to see more of Bond in the coming years. This is one man who gives me a chance to talk to my dad regarding movies, lifestyle and adventure and compare the same across both generations

I can’t but leave this chance to punch in a few lines on the review of “Skyfall”. Overall it’s a better movie than ‘Quantum of Solace’ but I guess ‘Casino Royale’ was just a few notches above it. The director(Sam Mendes) tries to give the villain more of ‘Joker’ like  characteristic but that just adds to the melodrama and since his cause for revenge is not well elaborated so the audiences does not feel connected to his pathos. The central storyline lacks the thrill which is a characteristic of Bond movies. This Bond movie plays with finer human emotions running across each character. Their vulnerability and inner conflicts forms the driving force with keeps the audience rolling. Yes the set piece actions are good but I guess that’s what we expect from 007.