Book Review: James Bond: Reflections of Death by G. Pak et al.

James Bond in "Reflections of Death" published by Dynamite Comics

James Bond is on the go in a six-chapter story with a different artistic team for each chapter! 

"The Broker" script by Vita Ayala and Danny Lore, art by Jordi Perez, and color by Kike J. Diaz

Miss Moneypenny is kidnapped by someone who wants to get information out of her, specifically about James Bond. She has some training but the kidnappers have a new drug that should work wonders on her free will. The kidnapper asks for stories about Bond, so we get the following ones, interspersed with more of the Moneypenny plot.

"The Rare Dinner" script by Benjamin Percy, art by Kewber Baal, and color by Celeste Woods

Bond is in France trying to round up some Russian gangsters at a posh restaurant. He's found a gorgeous redhead to dine with though he keeps excusing himself as one after another of the gangsters go to the bathroom. In the loo, Bond has a string of fights, leaving the gangsters knocked out in stalls for a clean-up crew to come and finish the job. The end has a nice twist that is classic Bond.

"The Oddest Job" script by Greg Pak, art by Dean Kotz, and color by Kike J. Diaz

In the Moneypenny plot, Bond has realized that she is in trouble and picks up some tech from Q to go get here. The backstory about Bond follows him on a day off after he's killed an operative at the United Nations. He walks about Manhattan at night and runs into an old acquaintance. They talk about the old days over dinner and practice their threat analysis on customers. When they are done, Bond and his friend follow a suspicious and glamorous blonde to a karaoke bar where a twist happens. It's another interesting story.

"One Pistol, Three Silencers" script by Gail Simone, art by Eoin Marron, and color by Dearbhla Kelly

Bond gets drawn in by Felix Leiter to keep his family safe while Felix is targeted by his own CIA. Bond's assignment: watch over Felix's daughter as she goes to her high school prom. Naturally, modern kids don't have the style Bond is accustomed to and he makes his own opinions felt. The story has a much more sentimental Bond than most people are used to. It was interesting but off-brand for 007.

"Men Without a Country" script by Mark Russell, art by Robert Carey, and color by Roshan Kurichiyanil

Acknowledging the weirdness of Bond's sentimentality in the last story, Moneypenny and the kidnapper move on to another story, this time with Bond retrieving Agent 003 from an isolated and dangerous Russian prison. It's a bit more character development for Bond leading into the final chapter.

"The Hook" script by Andy Diggle, art by Luca Casalanguida, and color by Celeste Woods

Present-day Bond is on the verge of finding Moneypenny, who has been kidnapped by [REDACTED], involved in a larger plot involving corruption at MI6. There's a mole in M's branch of the secret service and Moneypenny is being set up for the fall. Things don't turn out that way, because for all of the less-than-Bondish behavior, the story still ends like a James Bond story.

The book is meant to showcase a variety of artists (writers and illustrators) in a larger story. The overall format works well but the individual stories are more or less entertaining. It is interesting to have some focus on Moneypenny, who is usually little more than a cameo in many Bond films. As a reader, I am not quite convinced by every tale, so I give it a mixed rating.

Mildly recommended--it depends how serious of a Bond fan you are, how much you can put up with the stretches to his character.

Movie Review: No Time to Die (2021)

No Time to Die (2021) directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga

James Bond (Daniel Craig) has retired from the spy's life. He's become world-weary after a visit to Vesper's grave (his girlfriend in Casino Royale) turns into an assassination attempt. He was there with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) and he thinks she was working for his nemesis, SPECTRE. He retires but gets dragged back in when Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) needs help infiltrating a Cuban meeting of SPECTRE. The British and the Americans are trying to hunt down a new weapon called Heracles and the scientist who operates it. The scientist was kidnapped by SPECTRE from a secret MI-6 lab, so M (Ralph Fiennes) knows more than he's admitting to. The situation gets more exciting and complicated as the story rockets along.

The movie is very atypical for a James Bond film. The opening sequence, usually a throw-away bit of action and excitement, is a slow-burn horror with 007 nowhere in sight. Once that's done, viewers do get the excitement of the graveyard assassination and subsequent chase scene. The movie has plenty of amazing action scenes and exotic locales that are more typical for Bond. But then the weapon and M's dubious motivation and judgment does not follow the typical pro-United Kingdom tone of most Bond films. Like Casino Royale, Bond has a character arc in the film. He's much more three-dimensional than the Bonds of the Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan eras. The ending is extremely atypical but very satisfying for the story the filmmakers are telling here. 

Recommended, even though this is a much bigger departure than On Her Majesty's Secret Service for a Bond film. If you are looking for mindless action fun, this is not the film for you.

Movie Review: Goldeneye (1995)

GoldenEye (1995) directed by Martin Campbell

Pierce Brosnan begins his James Bond career with this exciting, over-the-top story of Bond foiling a plan by the Russians. The Cold War is long over but they make such fine bad guys that I guess the producers couldn't resist. The Russian military is in cahoots with a corrupt Russian business that's planning to use an electro-magnetic pulse devise (codenamed "Goldeneye') to cause havoc. The plan's details are not revealed right away. The company even destroys the secret base where Goldeneye is run. Luckily, the Russians built two devices. What will the bad guys do with the second weapon? And what about the cute Russian programmer (Izabella Scorupco) who managed to escape?

Judi Dench also debuts as M, the head of Bond's secret service division. She's just as tough as her predecessor and rightly accuses Bond of being an "aging, misogynistic dinosaur." Bond takes the criticism like any other--it barely has any effect. He and this film keep to the same tactics: spectacular stunts and actions sequences (the chase in St. Petersburg where Bond is driving a tank and the bad guys have a car stretches credibility quite far), exotic locales, beautiful women with whom Bond fools around, tech gadgets from Q branch that would never work in real life (maybe the exploding pen, but definitely not the watch with a laser cutter), and a fabulous theme song (thanks, Tina Turner) over an aging, misogynistic opening credits sequence. 

The movie is typical of most of the Bond films. It's entertaining escapist fun, making it easier to overlook Bond's amoral behavior and the semi-cartoonish tone (though it's not as frivolous as the Roger Moore films, which are enjoyable in their own way).

Mildly recommended--quintessential mindless popcorn fun that so much of the Bond franchise delivers.

Dual/Duel Review: Bond, Spoof of James Bond

Dual/Duel reviews are an online smackdown between two books, movies, games, podcasts, etc. etc. that I think are interesting to compare, contrast, and comment on. For a list of other dual/duel reviews, go here.

James Bond is so popular, he naturally has imitators, commentators, and satirists. I thought it would be fun to look at two comic takes on the classic British spy.

Our Man Flint (1966) directed by Daniel Mann

The world suffers under freak weather catastrophes that can only be caused by science. A group of scientists are trying to make the world a better place by blackmailing the world's governments into completely disarming. Not just the nukes--everything must go. Naturally world governments would like to avoid such a horrible situation. They've sent groups of spies to infiltrate and eliminate the scientists. So far, all have failed. At the Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage (yeah, they are ZOWIE), the world intelligence leaders put their criteria into a computer (using punch cards!) and out comes the name Derek Flint (James Coburn). The head of the Americans, Cramden (Lee J. Cobb), is reluctant to recruit Flint. Flint doesn't follow rules or instructions.

Flint is reluctant too, turning down several offers until Cramden is forced to make the appeal personally. Flint finally takes the job when he's almost assassinated while out with his four live-in girlfriends. Cramden takes the poison dart meant for Flint, but luckily Flint is a master at emergency surgery and saves Cramden's life. He smells some bouillabaisse on the dart, which leads him to Marseilles. He finds the club that sells that particular soup and has a run in with British agent 0008. After a comic fight and another clue is revealed, Flint is off to Rome where the assassin (Gila Golan, whose character is named Gila) has a cold cream company that's a front for the bad guys. Flint meets Gila and has a romantic liaison with her. He steals her office keys and sneaks into the factory where he is trapped in a vault. He's supposed to die when the oxygen runs out but he fakes his own death by relaxing himself into a state of suspended animation.

The bad guys take him to their island base to prove that he's really dead. He revives and sneaks off only to discover his four live-in girlfriends have been kidnapped and are being turned into "pleasure units." He frees them, busts up the base, and Gila has a change of heart and joins the other four women in returning to America with Flint.

The movie is ridiculous in the extreme. They quite consciously parody James Bond, even having the 0008 character in the movie. Flint is an uber-Bond. He's not only well-informed about the finer things (like alcohol and art), he's well-informed about everything. He's also a master of disguise and kung fu combat, which definitely looks like a parody of kung fu with exaggerated yells and stances. He's also a womanizer though he's enlightened enough not to let his women be treated like "pleasure units" by others.

The movie goes too far over the top in my opinion. The humor is repetitive and looks really dated. Coburn looks like he's having fun and it does show how silly the Bond franchise could get.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) directed by Jay Roach  

Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is a popular pop photographer and swinging single in 1967, but also a master spy. Powers works with Mrs. Kensington (Mimi Rogers) who enjoys the freewheeling lifestyle but also is faithful to Mr. Kensington and thus immune to Powers's charms. Powers's main nemesis, Dr. Evil (also Mike Myers), plans to assassinate Powers at a swanky club. The plan fails, forcing Dr. Evil to cryogenically freeze and launch himself into orbit.

Thirty years later, Evil returns to the Earth, specifically the outskirts of Las Vegas, where he has a secret underground base. He resumes his supervillain life, capturing a nuclear warhead and planning to blackmail the world for one million dollars. His evil henchman Number Two (Robert Wagner) convinces him to go bigger, asking for 100 billion dollars. You know, thirty years of inflation.... Dr. Evil also has to deal with his son Scott (Seth Green), who hates him for being an absent father. Dr. Evil both wants a relationship with his son and wants his son dead, depending on whichever makes for a funnier scene.

Meanwhile, the British secret service defrosts Austin Powers, who had himself cryogenically frozen to fight Dr. Evil if he ever came back. Austin also needs to change his expectations. It's thirty years after free love and drugs. Mrs. Kensington's daughter Vanessa (Elizabeth Hurley) is assigned to help Austin adjust to modern times. Austin's first thought is to "shag" her, which she finds repulsive. He slowly gets used to the idea of treating women as something other than sex objects over the course of the film, though he goes through a lot of experiences before he gets to the point of treating Vanessa like he should.

Austin and Vanessa head off to Vegas where they have run-ins with the bad guys, including a medium-stakes blackjack game and a tour of Dr. Evil's corporate facilities (they've expanded into legitimate businesses over the years, making lots of money without committing crime). They are captured by another henchman named Random Task (who is, of course, an Odd Job clone) and taken to the base on the outskirts of town.

There, Dr. Evil plans an elaborate, slow, and easily-escapable death trap for the two agents. In a touching moment, Scott asks to get his gun and just shoot them to make sure the plan actually works. Dr. Evil scoffs, wondering what could possibly go wrong. Austin and Vanessa do escape the death trap and eventually blow up the facility, stopping Evil's plans. Evil refreezes and relaunches himself into orbit. Austin and Vanessa live happily ever after.

The movie is mostly a spoof of James Bond films, though it also mines other 1960s spy movies for content. Powers's appearance is based on Michael Caine's Harry Palmer series (which was based on a John le Carre novel). That opens the door for the mockery of British dental hygiene, though I don't think Caine ever wore such elaborate costumes. The photographer bit (which provides almost no comedy) is from the Matt Helm series, itself an attempt to cash in by parodying James Bond. So the Powers character is a pastiche of 1960s film spies. Myers is funny as the clueless and self-absorbed spy hero, but even with all this source material, the character is still mostly Myers.

The more strictly Bond satire is reserved for Dr. Evil, who looks like Blofeld and even has a cat like Blofeld's. The plans are straight out of Bond as are his henchman and his deathtrap. The addition of the son is a bit weird and only works as filler to add more jokes. They go to father-son therapy and the son complains about the impracticality of his father's plans (a common objection faced by Bond villains). Myers is more creative and funnier in this role.

A lot of the lines from this movie have moved into pop culture ("sharks with frickin' laser beams", "I want...one MILLION dollars").

This movie is definitely less dated than the first, though it's already starting to show some age. Powers's conversion from a swinging single to a sexually monogamous guy is not at all convincing and seems thrown in as an apology for the earlier raunchy comedy. The movie shoots at a broader target and hits often but not all the time.

Which is better?

Austin Powers is definitely funnier and less cringe-worthy than Our Man Flint, so I give it to Powers.


Winner:

Loser:

Movie Review: Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger (1964) directed by Guy Hamilton

James Bond (Sean Connery) is back for a third outing. This time he's up against Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), an international businessman obsessed with gold. Goldfinger has lots of little-time and big-time schemes to make money, plans that are honest and dishonest. He tends to favor the dishonest. His latest, biggest scheme has drawn the attention of the British Secret Service. Bond pursues Goldfinger from Miami to London to Geneva and back to America. Bond works his way through the typical number of bad guys, beautiful girls, and absurd gadgets before the big finale.

Goldfinger established a lot of the tropes for Bond films. The pre-credits action sequence has almost nothing to do with the plot (other than placing Bond in Miami) but has exciting action and a Bond girl who only appears in the opening. There's a smart main villain with the big evil scheme (Goldfinger here, often Blofeld in other films). The scheme is elaborate (leading to a big action sequence at the end) and more or less over the top (Goldfinger taking out the American gold deposit at Fort Knox fits that bill). The villain has a beefy henchman who does all the fisticuffs with Bond. Maybe the henchman also has a quirky weapon or feature (here, Oddjob is a mute Korean martial arts expert with a razor-rimmed bowler hat he throws to kill people or destroy stuff; my favorite other henchman is probably Jaws (Richard Kiel) who is also mute but because he has metal teeth). Bond's arsenal contains some elaborate, borderline outlandish, gadgets (like the ejector seat on his Aston Martin, which is also kitted out with machine guns, oil slick, smoke screen, bulletproof glass, etc.). Bond always has a humorous quip and fabulous clothes, even when he is sneaking about and messing around with bad guys or beautiful girls.

The movie is very entertaining--it's serious when it needs to be, exciting often, and comic enough not to be taken seriously. Goldfinger is a well-written villain with some memorable lines and speeches ("I expect you to die, Mr. Bond" or after rattling off accomplishments like exploring the ocean floor, splitting the atom, and sending rockets to the moon, he says "Man has achieved miracles in every field of human endeavor...except CRIME!"). Oddjob is menacing and tough, probably tougher than Bond though Bond outmaneuvers him. Honor Blackman is charming as Pussy Galore, pilot for Goldfinger and paramour for Bond. The big finale at Fort Knox is tightly directed and very exciting. This was my favorite Bond film before the Daniel Craig Casino Royale.

Highly recommended.

TV Review: Fleming. The Man Who Would Be Bond (2014)

 Fleming. The Man Who Would Be Bond (2014) directed by Mat Whitecross

Ian Fleming (Dominic Cooper) has great ambitions but few accomplishments as World War II begins. He's failing at his stock broker job. His brother Peter (Rupert Evans) is a famous travel author who's had lots of fun adventures abroad. Ian lands a job with Naval Intelligence. His imagination gets a freer rein and he's able to lead a more free-wheeling lifestyle (which fits with his hedonistic tendencies). Many lovers pass through his bed though he has little interest in them as persons. The woman he truly wants is the more unreachable Ann O'Neill (Lara Pulver), who is married, well-connected, and a bit of a hedonist too. As Fleming hatches elaborate espionage plans, his romantic life gets more complicated. He's a bit hard nosed, though, not really loving women as much as himself. Fleming is insubordinate, even to his own mother (Lesley Manville). He is wily enough to dodge most problems and come out on top.

The show goes to great lengths to compare Fleming to his fiction creation James Bond. Fleming is a ladies' man with an aloofness and brutality toward his enemies. In the show, they go a little overboard depicting Fleming as bitter and cruel. Though he was accomplished, he was not very likeable, either to the characters in the story or to me as a viewer. Fleming gets the girl in the end though the circumstances are not at all convincing (it's not a spoiler to write about that because the show starts with them honeymooning in the Caribbean in 1953 and then flashing back thirteen years). The larger story of World War II and the supposed origins of Bond are more interesting, especially the Easter Eggs thrown in throughout for Bond fans.

The show is a mish-mash of good and bad elements with the bad weighing heavier.

Not recommended--just watch an actual Bond film, even the bad ones have more entertainment value than this does.

The Sequel Was Better? Dr. No vs. From Russia With Love

The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See other reviews here.

James Bond remains one of the most popular characters in cinema history. He started out in novels written by Ian Fleming. He made the jump to the sliver screen in 1962 with Sean Connery as the first actor to play Bond. He was considered the iconic Bond until the current Bond, Daniel Craig, has made such a good showing. Fans will debate endlessly about who is their favorite Bond or Bond villain or Bond girl, but I think all would agree that the second film was better than the first. At least, that's what I am arguing here...

Dr. No directed by Terrence Young

After the now-iconic gun barrel opening and flashy/arty credits, three blind Jamaicans wander through Kingston. They arrive at a local club where they kill Professor Strangways (Tim Moxon), a British businessman with some strange habits. He was on his way back to his office to contact his supervisor. The three blind men hustle the body into a hearse. The action moves to Strangways's office, where his secretary turns on a secret radio and calls to the supervisor which happens to be a British intelligence agency in London. After setting up the call, the office is invaded by gunmen who kill the secretary and take two files. One file is marked "Dr. No," the other "Crab Key." Back in England, concern for the fate of their Jamaican branch has M (Bernard Lee) call in one of his agents to deal with the situation. The scene switches to a club where a high-class card game is being won over and over by Bond, James Bond (Sean Connery). The message forces Bond to leave, but not before setting up a date for the next day with an alluring woman at the table. Bond reports to M's office after a bit of flirting with M's secretary, Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell). M fills Bond in--Strangways was a British agent investigating some radio disturbances from the Caribbean that were disrupting American rocket launches in Florida. Bond is sent to investigate Strangways's disappearance after being given a better gun (the iconic Walther PPK) by the agency's armorer (who isn't named Q yet and is played by a different actor than Desmond Llewelyn). Bond goes home to pack and discovers the woman from the club with whom he has a romantic moment before he heads out for Jamaica.

In the Jamaican airport, Bond is met by a driver. He goes back into the building to make a call and is observed by a mysterious stranger (Jack Lord), who we later discover is C.I.A. agent Felix Leiter. Bond calls the local office and finds out they haven't sent a car for him. He tells the office he'll come in later. He gets in the car with the wrong driver and they are chased by the mysterious stranger. The driver is able to escape thanks to some direction from Bond. As they hide on a side road, Bond pulls a gun on the driver and tries to get him to talk. The driver asks if he can smoke. Bond agrees but then the driver bites a cyanide pill out of the cigarette and dies rather than talk about his employer. Bond checks in to his hotel and reports to the local office.

At the local office, Bond arranges to meet the men who last saw Strangways alive and to investigate Strangways's business office. He finds a receipt for the analysis for some rocks. Bond meets Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson) who analyzed the rocks and he claims they were worthless samples but he does act nervous about it. Bond discovers a local boatman named Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) who worked with Strangways and took him once to Crab Key, the island base for Doctor No. Bond gets a Geiger counter from the agency. Using it on Quarrel's boat, he discovers radiation. So the rocks from Crab Key were radioactive, which means the professor was lying.

Meanwhile, the panicked professor has gone to Crab Key to warn Doctor No. The doctor is disappointed in Dent coming outside of protocol and gives Dent a deadly spider with which to eliminate Bond. Dent takes the spider to Bond's hotel room late at night. The spider crawls up Bond's arm but he manages to get it off and squash it. Bond decides to go to Crab Key. Leiter demurs, promising to bring the cavalry if Bond doesn't come back in twelve hours. Quarrel is reluctant to go but is persuaded. Another rocket launch is scheduled for the next day, so time is critical.

Bond and Quarrel sneak onto the island where they meet Honey Rider (Ursula Andress), who walks up from the beach in a bikini, another iconic Bond movie moment. She's on the island to collect sea shells that she sells on the American market. Usually, the local inhabitants threaten people who come to the island, but she knows how to hide from them, including hiding from their "dragon." Quarrel confirms the existence of a dragon but Bond is dismissive. A gunboat comes and the three visitors manage to hide further back on the beach. The people on the boat demand that the visitors show themselves. Soon enough, they open fire but don't hit anything other than Honey's boat. She's stranded with Bond and Quarrel, who make plans to stay. Eventually, the "dragon" comes out--it's an armored vehicle with a flamethrower. Quarrel is killed. Bond and Honey are captured.

After being decontaminated, Bond and Honey are treated well--soft clothes and a meal and a room to relax in. They drink some coffee and are knocked out by drugs in the coffee. When they wake up, they are taken to dinner with Doctor No. The doctor is an agent of SPECTRE, the SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion. They are trying to disrupt the American space plan and he uses the Crab Key base to topple the rockets. No gives his background--he is the son of a German soldier and a Chinese mother. In China, he was rejected by the locals even though he was a brilliant scientist. In America, he got the same treatment. So he joined SPECTRE. He lost his hands at one point, leaving him with metallic hands that can crush everyday objects. He tries to recruit Bond, who adamantly refuses. No then has Honey taken away and Bond beaten up.

Bond is left in a prison cell. He escapes through the air ducts and disguises himself in a radiation suit. He sneaks into the reactor room where he overloads the nuclear reactor before the bad guys have the chance to disrupt the rocket launch. Dr. No and Bond fight, with Bond eventually forcing No into the reactor pool where No dies. Bond escapes, finds Honey, and they flee the island in a boat. The facility blows up. The boat runs out of fuel, so Bond and Honey have time to "get friendly." Leiter shows up in a Royal Navy boat and they tow Bond's craft to Jamaica. As they are being towed, Bond and Honey start making out again. Bond unties the rope, leaving them plenty of time to drift off to happiness as the end credits roll.

From Russia With Love directed by Terrence Young

In the first ever pre-credits sequence, Bond is infiltrating an estate. A strange blonde man (Robert Shaw) is stalking him. The blonde gets the drop on Bond and kills him! Then the lights come on and viewers discover the place is a training base for SPECTRE. The blonde is named Grant, a star assassin and spy. Someone comes up and pulls the mask off Bond to reveal he's someone else. Then the credits start--it's still the Bond orchestral music with the credits being shown on the body of a belly dancer (who shakes just about everything). The theme song is saved for the end of the movie.

After the credits we see SPECTRE agents plotting in Venice. Russian intelligence officer Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) has gone over to SPECTRE though no one knows about it. Blofeld (unidentified) authorizes a scheme where Klebb will go to the Soviet office in Istanbul. A junior officer named Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) will pretend to defect from the Istanbul office, bringing with her a Lektor decoding machine. Her price is that James Bond will be her escort to the West. When M (Bernard Lee) gets wind of the offer, he clearly sees it as a trap. But the British can't pass up the chance to get a Lektor. During the briefing, a member of Q branch (Desmond Llewelyn!) brings Bond a special attache case that is loaded with weapons and cash. After a dalliance with his girlfriend and some flirting with Moneypenny, Bond is off to Istanbul.

Bond is met at the airport by a car from Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz). The car is followed by the Russians. The Cold War is pretty casual in Turkey--both sides let the other keep tabs. Bey is ready to assist Bond with the plan, getting blueprints of the Russian consulate and organizing the meet between Bond and the Russian girl. She's recruited by Klebb for the scheme and is happy to serve the Motherland. She goes to Bond's hotel where they have a romantic evening which is surreptitiously filmed by SPECTRE. Bond and Tatiana plan to meet at a mosque the next day so she can give Bond a map of the Russian consulate.

Before the mosque meeting, Bey is almost killed by a bomb at the British office. Bond goes to the meeting where a Russian agent almost interferes with Tatiana's dropoff. The blonde guy Grant is there and kills the Russian agent, assuring that Bond will get the information he needs. Bond returns to Bey's place to find the near assassination. Bey decides Bond needs to go somewhere other than his hotel so he takes Bond to a Gypsy camp for the night. The Gypsy hosts are very nice and the belly dancer from the opening credits shows up as entertainment. The other entertainment is two women fighting each other over one of the Gypsy chieftain's sons. This catfight is interrupted when the Russians show up and try to kill Bey. Bond helps the Gypsies fight the Russians and is saved at a critical moment by Grant, who is hiding in the wings, making sure the plan stays on track. After the Russians are driven away, Bond asks the grateful Gypsy chieftain to stop the cat fight. The chieftain lets Bond settle the dispute, ensuring he has company for the night.

The next day, Bond and Bey make plans to take out one of the Russians in a humorous revenge scene. Once that's done, they start the plan to extract Tatiana and the Lektor from the consulate. Bey uses an underground reservoir to blow up part of the consulate. Bond sneaks in and gets the girl and the gizmo. They escape through the hole in the floor created by the explosion.

Soon enough they are on a train to the West with a plan for one of Bey's sons to meet them near Trieste. They discover a Russian on the train and get the drop on him. Bey holds the Russian hostage while Bond hangs out with Tatiana, who pretends to be his bride (and really gets into the act). Grant is on the train as well. He kills Bey and the Russian. Then he impersonates the Trieste contact, fooling Bond into thinking he's a British agent. In the dining car, Grant drugs Tatiana's drink. Back at their room, Tatiana passes out. Grant and Bond go into the other half of the compartment where Grant gets the drop on Bond. He tells Bond the whole scheme. Bond tries to bribe Grant, who asks where the money is. Bond says its in his attache case. The case is actually booby-trapped, giving Bond the chance to fight Grant. After a long struggle, Bond succeeds.

Bond then takes Tatiana and uses Grant's escape plan to get back to Venice. He takes Grant's truck and drives to the shore. Along the way he has a fight with a helicopter and (naturally) wins. At the shore, Bond and Tatiana take a boat to Venice. There's a fight with other boats which ends in a spectacular explosion. In Venice, SPECTRE makes a last ditch effort to get the Lektor back by sending Klebb in as a maid to steal it from Bond's hotel room. She winds up fighting with Bond. Tatiana has to choose her loyalty at this point and she chooses Bond, helping him to defeat Klebb. Bond and Tatiana escape in another boat, leaving Venice for England as the title song plays over the end credits.

So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.

• SCRIPT--Both movies stick fairly closely to the novels on which they were based. Dr. No was chosen as the first film because of the limited number of locations (thus saving on the budget). I think it was a less interesting story. From Russia With Love has a more going on. The fake-out opening where Bond is killed establishes the deceptions and surprise twists throughout the film. The movie also has a lot of opposed pairs--Bond and Grant, British and Soviets, Bulgarians and Turks, the two Blofeld underlings, Tatiana and Klebb. Also, From Russia With Love is the most normal of the Bond films. It's a Cold War spy film with minimal gadgets and villains who are not over-the-top. The action is realistic and believable (except for Bond shooting the helicopter with his rifle and destroying it, but hey, at least it wasn't a bow and arrow). Advantage From Russia With Love.
• ACTING--Connery is equally good in both films. Bond girls aren't famous for their acting abilities though to be fair they aren't usually given much to work with. Andress in Dr. No has a lot more agency and more character. Bianchi isn't much more than the lure to draw Bond in. She gets some agency at the end but overall is a lesser character. On the other hand, the villains in From Russia With Love are more interesting than Doctor No since they have more than one single plan to execute. Grant and Klebb are fun baddies. Kerim Bey is a more colorful sidekick than Felix Leiter. Advantage From Russia With Love.
• ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY-- Dr. No has a lot of the Bond tropes already in it: the iconic gunbarrel-view opening; the iconic score; the artsy opening credits (though it's all abstract images); Bond beds several women; the villain has a cavernous secret base; SPECTRE is introduced; his American counterpart, Felix Leiter, starts his long career. From Russia With Love adds in the pre-credits sequence which, unlike in later Bond films, actually has to do with the main plot. The movie also establishes the scantily-clad female dancing during the opening credits. Viewers see a little more of SPECTRE's organization. The Cold War is more specifically brought into the plot which became a mainstay for the first twenty years of Bond films. Advantage From Russia With Love.
• SPECIAL EFFECTS--Both movies are before the Bond franchise started going over the top with villain plans and secret agent gadgets. The stunt work and explosions make for a convincing and enjoyable action film in both cases. Advantage neither.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Dr. No is a fine film and well worth watching. It's just From Russia With Love successfully ups the ante in so many ways. SPECTRE's scheme is more interesting and credible. The larger budget meant Venice and Turkey had a lot more going on than the limited Caribbean island locations. The girl was less interesting but the villains and the allies were more interesting. It's easy to choose which film to watch between the two.

The third film, Goldfinger, established the "Bond formula" for the format and tone of the films that remained more or less unbroken until the 2006 Casino Royale. But that's a story for another review.

Movie Review: Spectre (2015)

Spectre (2015) directed by Sam Mendes

The latest Bond flick starts with a classic over the top action sequence that doesn't seem connected to the main plot; it's like those cartoon shorts they show in front of Pixar films. Or the opening sequences of the old Bond films. Pretty soon after the credits, the opening sequence turns out to follow directly from the last film. Judy Dench's M left a video message for Bond to kill someone and go to their funeral. Bond is dutifully doing what he does best...without telling the new M (Ralph Fiennes). So Bond is on the outs with his superiors. Interestingly enough, the whole Double-O initiative is on the outs with MI-5, whose head, C (Andrew Scott, who plays Moriarty on Sherlock) is ready to junk M's division. C is working on approval for a monitoring system that will invade everyone's privacy, including Double-O and MI-5 agents. So while James is tracking down a shadowy agency lead by a guy who first appears literally in a shadow (Christoph Waltz), M is fighting the good fight to keep the Double-Os online and tanking C's plans.

The two slightly convoluted plots do converge by the end of the film, which may be the main problem of the film. The story bends over backwards to fit together not only the two separate plot threads (which isn't so unbelievable) but all the other Daniel Craig movies as well (unbelievable even by Bond standards). The revelation is unconvincing and disappointing. The bad guys have plenty to do without trying to take credit from previous films.

The other problem is the villains. C is a good villain but his plan seems like a re-run of a dozen other films. Christoph Waltz's villain is surprisingly bland. Waltz tries to give him some character but the performance just doesn't work. He's not particularly menacing or campy. Without a good villain the movie is less satisfying.

On the other hand, the action sequences are amazing and the location spectacular (as you'd expect in a Bond film). Craig is great as Bond. Fiennes makes a good, hands-on M and the other regulars (Q and Moneypenny) work well with Craig's Bond.

I can't really recommend this film except for Bond completists. And if you haven't seen the film by now, you probably aren't a Bond completist.

Movie Review: Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall (2012) directed by Sam Mendes

For the fiftieth anniversary of James Bond (on film, he's a bit older in print) the third installment with Daniel Craig as Mr. Bond has been released, two weeks earlier in the UK than in the United States. The movie starts with Bond hunting down a hard drive containing a list of all the deep cover operatives working for NATO countries (at least, I think that's what they said). The chase sequence is very exciting and leads to both an unexpected ending and the usual visually amazing credits sequence.

The story unfolds rather nicely with some good plot twists and a fine balance of action, acting, and explanations. I hate to give away too much detail, because the movie does not follow the generic Moore/Brosnan-era 007 plots where some megalomaniac tries to take over the world, or destroy the world, or become rich, etc., and Bond foils the villain by infiltrating his base and blowing everything up. I'm not saying those movies are not entertaining but they are pretty light-weight compared with the new direction the movie makers are taking with Daniel Craig's Bond. There's still plenty of action and excitement but different stakes are raised, allowing for some surprises and some fine storytelling. I would definitely recommend this even if you aren't a Bond fan.

The cryptic title of the movie has a much better explanation than I guessed many months ago.

New James Bond Title Explained?

This may explain the strange title of the new Bond film currently in production. The title is Skyfall and this video shows a potential threat 007 faces:



How many malls have a stand selling these little helicopters? Clearly some evil genius has been staging them across the world waiting for the moment to be right, like George Lucas waiting until there were enough 3D-equipped theaters before re-re-re-re-releasing Star Wars* to us. If the Bond villain is that cunning, will 007 stand a chance?


*Yes, I'm so tired of Star Wars monetizing that I refuse to provide a hyperlink.