Let's begin the James Bond Marathon!
As many of you may be aware, there's going to a new James Bond film coming out in November, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to watch all of the released James Bond films in preparation. It will take me a bit of a while, which is why I'm starting now. For the record, I have only seen a handful of the films, so it will be interesting to go back through them all and see many of them for the first time. It should also be noted that I'm very much a 90s kid, so Pierce Brosnan was the face of James Bond for me, entirely through advertising and video games (I think Casino Royale was the first Bond film I actually watched!). In any case, this should be an interesting journey through time as I see all the different Bonds and styles and approaches to the spy action/thriller.
And first up is, of course, Dr. No.
I have to admit that, right off the bat, watching a movie that is over 50 years old does require a bit of mental re-adjusting. The pace is much slower and calmer, the camera tends to stay in very wide shots, and the action almost seems muted and anti-climactic. If there's one thing to be said for the Bond films, it's that each one is very much a time-capsule of its era, and for this first one, it's very much 1962 in style and set dressings.
That's not to say that its age makes it a bad movie; I quite enjoyed it, once I adjusted to its pace. In fact, that ends up being one of it's positive elements. The movie isn't in a hurry to explain or show everything to its audience, but rather instead respects the viewers' intelligence. One scene that comes to mind is when Bond first enters his hotel room and begins poking around to try and find anything suspicious. Then he starts laying out some "triggers", if you will, that will inform him of what's happened to his room, like putting the hair on the cabinet doors. He does all of this in silence (which makes sense, really). Later, when Bond comes back, he checks these things again, and you simply see that things have changed. Again, Bond doesn't say a word, but then again, he doesn't have to. These kinds of things (and all the detective work Bond does) really do put you in that spy-mode mentality, where even the details could be the difference between life and death!
Another interesting point is the action. Having grown up in the 90s, I have since gotten used to action that's very visceral and thrilling, with clever cuts and close-ups. Here, James Bond kills rather quietly, and often quite simply. There are no moments to "revel in the action," as it were. It's mostly Bond waiting, striking, and then leaving, with nary an orchestral swoop. While this certainly makes for more a spy-thriller tone, there still is a unique energy to the fights and struggles, if they do seem subdued by today's standards.
And of course, there's the Bond Villain. While we don't spend a whole lot of time with him, the build up is great, and by the time we do get to see him, it pays off pretty well (even if it is just for dinner). Despite this being the first Bond film (at least for the Eon series), Dr. No sets the precedent for the extravagant Bond Villain, with a striking appearance, a mysterious air, and a massive chunk of ego and arrogance.
That being said, this certainly isn't a perfect movie. While most of the time spent wandering around Jamaica is clever and moves along at a nice pace, once we get to Dr. No's island, things bog down for me. We're introduced to the first major Bond girl (despite him "entertaining" at least two others by this point in the film), Honey Ryder, and see feels like needless excess baggage. It's just something to protect during the film and make out with afterwards. While I suppose it does create some extra tension as they hide from the bad guy's boats and later an augmented tank (referred to as a Dragon), she really just seems to be there so that there's something pretty running around in a bikini.
Another thing that didn't quite gel is when the action does heat up. While Bond may have the stealth takedowns perfected, when it comes to out-right action, it comes across as a bit sticky and tacky, as Connery clearly punches the air and a mook flings his head in the correct direction. The final showdown also is a bit of an anti-climax (though that may be unfair as I'm probably comparing to modern movies). Sure, Bond is able to destroy the base and prevent Dr. No from messing with America's rockets, but the struggle with the villain was quite sudden and unfulfilling. It may have been a poetic death to see Dr. No unable to properly grasp anything with his prosthetic hands, but it wasn't quite the comeuppance we've come to expect from later films
Finally, there's the man himself: Sean Connery. This being the first of the series, Connery has to set the trends that would make Bond such an iconic character, and it's all here. The classy gentleman, the charming womanizer, the clever detective, the brave adventurer, the lethal killer: all the pieces that have made Bond so iconic are all accounted for, making for the ideal male power fantasy. Connery clearly set a high standard for the character that would make a tough act to follow.
So that's one down, 23 to go! At the end of each of these articles, I will maintain a running list of how I rank all the Bond movies so far. However, given that I've only seen one, I won't bother. It's the beginning of the long journey, and I look forward to all the ups and downs along the way. I admit that I'm not looking forward to the late 70s and 80s films. From what I understand, there's quite a lull in quality at that point before Brosnan gets the roll! Here's hoping I can make it through without going mad!
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