I just had my mini-Bond freakout....
Perusing all the daily tidbits of film news I come across a story revealing what the next James Bond movie will be titled. It is an odd title, even by Bond standards. Apparently it was lifted from the short story collection "For Your Eyes Only" by Ian Fleming himself, so it passes muster with its pedigree if nothing else. To confirm this turn of events I went to my trusty site for all things Bond, www.mi6.co.uk. Yes, I am that big a Bond geek. Shut up.
So what was formerly known only as "Bond 22" is now and forever to be known as "Quantum of Solace".
Most of us are familiar with Bond titles. They involve liberal use of the word 'die'. Or are pun-like reflections of the evil plot at hand and recited to us as one of Bond's quippy asides or such. Or it is simply a random one-word title that isn't even really a word, but a made up thing relative to one of the goofy villains.
But what is "Quantum of Solace"? Yes, this one picks up mere hours after "Casino Royale" ended and Bond had to kill his girlfriend Vesper, coldly saying afterwards to MI6 that "the bitch is dead". I sort of get the 'solace' bit. And a quantum is the smallest recognizable unit of something. So does this mean we finally get a Bond movie where he kicks a lot of ass because he just had the worst break-up of his life?
Who knows? I poked around further and found that the story this is taking the title from is not even really a Bond adventure. Apparently it was Fleming trying some style experiments and giving more of a W. Somerset Maugham sort of vibe about relationships falling apart and the emotional scars they leave. Bond is only a background player in this thing, as a man relates the sad tale to him.
So it all sort of makes sense. It just doesn't roll of the tongue and sounds vaguely like a science fiction tale. Which is fine frankly, because the catchier the titles the weaker the movies have been. With the "Casino Royale" reboot, the franchise has opened up a bit and now the possibilities are back. I am very interested in the progression here, to real-up Bond a little, make him less cartoony like the early Connery.
And then the other part of me wants volcano lairs and secret armies and nuclear blackmail. Gadgets and girls and guns and fast cars and explosions and judo....
It's a fine line. Which is why I am a Bond fan, I suppose. You just never know if you are going to get a good one or a poopsicle when you sit your ass down in that seat. The allure of mystery. With 21 movies in the canon, this obviously works for most of us out there.
Still... "Quantum of Solace"? I'll have to warm up to it a bit.
So what was formerly known only as "Bond 22" is now and forever to be known as "Quantum of Solace".
Most of us are familiar with Bond titles. They involve liberal use of the word 'die'. Or are pun-like reflections of the evil plot at hand and recited to us as one of Bond's quippy asides or such. Or it is simply a random one-word title that isn't even really a word, but a made up thing relative to one of the goofy villains.
But what is "Quantum of Solace"? Yes, this one picks up mere hours after "Casino Royale" ended and Bond had to kill his girlfriend Vesper, coldly saying afterwards to MI6 that "the bitch is dead". I sort of get the 'solace' bit. And a quantum is the smallest recognizable unit of something. So does this mean we finally get a Bond movie where he kicks a lot of ass because he just had the worst break-up of his life?
Who knows? I poked around further and found that the story this is taking the title from is not even really a Bond adventure. Apparently it was Fleming trying some style experiments and giving more of a W. Somerset Maugham sort of vibe about relationships falling apart and the emotional scars they leave. Bond is only a background player in this thing, as a man relates the sad tale to him.
So it all sort of makes sense. It just doesn't roll of the tongue and sounds vaguely like a science fiction tale. Which is fine frankly, because the catchier the titles the weaker the movies have been. With the "Casino Royale" reboot, the franchise has opened up a bit and now the possibilities are back. I am very interested in the progression here, to real-up Bond a little, make him less cartoony like the early Connery.
And then the other part of me wants volcano lairs and secret armies and nuclear blackmail. Gadgets and girls and guns and fast cars and explosions and judo....
It's a fine line. Which is why I am a Bond fan, I suppose. You just never know if you are going to get a good one or a poopsicle when you sit your ass down in that seat. The allure of mystery. With 21 movies in the canon, this obviously works for most of us out there.
Still... "Quantum of Solace"? I'll have to warm up to it a bit.