The New Bond

It's Daniel Craig. (I won't bother linking to anything. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a story about it.) He looks like he'll be all right in the role, though I'd rather they retained Pierce for a last film. It would be nice if someone would dig down to the truth about Brosnan's dismissal, but that won't happen as long as film journalism remains with the likes of US Weekly.

I'm less sanguine about the producers turning Casino Royale into an origin story. It wasn't one initially; Bond was already a "00" agent at the beginning of the book, and though the novel establishes several characters, there's a sense that Bond already knows most of them--either through work or by reputation. We have a sense that we're entering a universe that was already running when we got here, which is an underrated sensation. Honestly, I can't think of anything duller than finding out how Bond got his number--a story Fleming told only in summary because it was, really, kind of dull and grim--or how he got his Aston Martin. (I already know, actually. We saw it in Goldfinger. Q-Branch retired Bond's Bentley and assigned him the Aston Martin DB-5, which Bond proceeded to ruin by crashing it into a wall at Goldfinger's plant.) Over the years, the films have given us hints of backstory--the deaths of Bond's parents in a climbing accident (Goldeneye) or his failure to graduate from Cambridge (The Spy Who Loved Me), but nothing too specific.

I prefer it that way, really. It's possible to write about Bond as a man in the grip of his own past, riven by deep-seated interior conflict, etcetera, etcetera; but was that ever what made his movies fun in the first place? It's a mistake to confuse Bond with Batman. Batman's internal struggles are interesting mainly because there has to be some explanation for why a good-looking grown man with a life to lead would choose to assume the identity of a flying predator and battle criminals in the Gotham night. But Bond doesn't assume other identities. He's always 007. He likes drinks, hot women, sports, fast cars, and good suits. He also has a keen interest in the natural sciences and speaks an astonishing array of languages. He seems to be supremely at home with himself, never interrupting the action to contemplate his inner demons (which, if he has them, he has the good British decency to keep well-hidden while in company). The last thing I want to see is a Bond who dwells, and what is an origin story but a place where we give the hero things to dwell over?

For an example of what I mean, think of Bond's clubland literary ancestor, "The Saint". The TV series (and the books) never got into Simon Templar's origins, but the 1995 movie did (he was supposedly an orphan in Hong Kong who chose his name after one of the brutal warders beat him). Which would you rather watch--Roger Moore in a pair of the TV episodes, or Val Kilmer in the movie? If you answer the latter, you are beyond pleasure, beyond pity, and beyond hope.