James Bond
The new James Bond film is very, very cool. It was a bit like an AU James Bond movie as written by a really good fanfic writer. Let me explain.
I presume there is James Bond fanfic out there, but I don't intend to read it, because I suspect it'll mostly be guns and girls and guns and fast cars and guns and supervillains taking over the world and guns and gimmicky henchmen. And did I mention guns? The fanfic I like - the fanfic I admire - is all about characterisation, and adding to the TV show / movie / book / whatever. Because, on film, often there isn't time to do more than hint at the world behind or beneath the action.
Imagine a fanfic by a really good writer. It's AU James Bond - AU because they've really futzed with the timeline (more than James Bond films usually do). He's present-day, but just starting out in his career as a spy. We see his first kills.
It has most of the fun stuff that you associate with James Bond movies (odd names, odd-looking bad guys, fantastic action sequences, bombs, casinos, vast amounts of money... etc etc). It has less of the usual gadgets, but to be honest they were beginning to get a bit ludicrous in recent years (invisible car? Puh-lease). It's humorous, but not really because of any smart one-liners as he kills some random henchman. It has cars (to the point where I was muttering, as they rolled one, "Don't hurt the pretty car!"). It has beautiful girls, of course, but James falls like a box of rocks for one of them.
What struck me most about it - and what made me think of fanfic - is the behind-the-scenes nature of a lot of it. We see some of what makes James into a superspy, a double-O. It's mostly not very pretty (the tux thing, however, was adorable). We see him in the casino, doing the suave, sophisticated, vodka martini thing - but five minutes before that, we saw him washing blood from his hands, applying ice, and downing a huge glass of brandy to steady his nerves after killing a guy with his bare hands. We see him building up, demolishing, and rebuilding his emotional armor.
That's sort of the reason I read fanfic, personally. I like the exploring of emotions and reasons and history - all the where-they're-going and why-they're-like-that.
There was a plot to the film, a reason for all the running around and shooting and steely looks across the poker table... but to be honest I can't remember it. I never can, with James Bond - I don't honestly care about the latest-supervillan-with-one-eye-trying-to-wipe-out-the-human-race-with-golddust-from-space, or whatever the hell. It's all McGuffins to me. But for once, I've come away from a James Bond movie feeling like the main character was actually affected by everything that happened to him - that it changed him, that he was a different person by the end of the film. It makes it a much more satisfying experience.
edit: Whilst we're on the subject of Casino Royale, will someone please tie me to a chair and beat me with twigs until I finish a damn story. But not, I hasten to add, naked, and not with a knotted rope. Because, ow. You could tell who'd read the book when they brought out a wicker chair and half the audience sucked in a sharp breath.