The next time you see James Bond, he’ll be doing his level best to stop being James Bond. According to The Independent, the producers have stripped the character of his trademark catchphrases in Quantum of Solace.
In particular, they’ve made sure to keep him from asking for a martini shaken, not stirred. This is 2008. Presumably he now drinks Trump Vodka and Redbull. If you ask him his name, he’ll just say James Bond. Nowhere in the film will he respond with his trademark “Bond, James Bond.” Some of his signature lines were written into the script and even filmed, but director Marc Forester says, “it never worked as we hoped. I just felt we should cut it out, and Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson [the film's producers] agreed, and Daniel [Craig, who plays Bond] agreed, too. It's nice to be open-minded about the Bond formula. You can always go back to them later on.”
This really isn’t a surprise. They’ve had the franchise headed in this direction ever since Casino Royale was first announced. They want James Bond to be Jason Bourne, and that means shucking all the Bond trappings. Since Casino Royale was a big hit, that has made it easier for them to go even further with the de-Bondification of 007. It’s all part of bringing Bond into the 21st century… and making him boring.
Sorry, I know a lot of you out there love the new direction this franchise is headed. But when I go to see a James Bond movie I want to see, well, a James Bond movie. What the franchise is tired? Well then stop making Bond movies, and try calling whatever it is you are making something else. I want to see a guy in a tux drinking martinis and getting cool gadgets from an old fart named Q. If I want to see Jason Bourne, well I’ve got his address. I think he lives next door to Damon, Mat Damon.
