PROTEGE

Hmm, what could Zander have planned? The bad news: you won’t find out in next week’s update… the good news: you’ll see the return of one of my favorite Protege characters (hell, they’re all my favorite but I have a soft spot for this one).

My 2-cents on Skyfall (SPOILERS):
I enjoyed the latest Bond flick, and am always happy (for selfish reasons) to see a spy/thriller go big at the box office. Overall I thought it was one of the better flicks the 007 franchise has churned out, but a few things bugged me.

I wanted them to show the “older, slower Bond” thing, not just talk about it. Bond gets shot by a baddie in the first few minutes of the film, then shot again by someone on his own team. He returns to duty but fails a fitness test, is called an “old dog” by the new Moneypenny, and appears gaunt and weary in the first reel. If you read Protege, you know I was very interested to see how they’d handle an over-the-hill super-agent.

What was disappointing for me was none of the vulnerabilities they set up seemed to matter as the film unfolded. Bond wipes out six henchmen in three seconds without working up a sweat in one scene. He beds some fine young ladies with close to zero effort. And even though he completely fails his main directive (to keep M alive), Bond is back at work the next day with a sweet new mission and no questions asked.

Like Ard Vijn of twitchfilm, I like that the Daniel Craig Bond films rely more on character than gadgets. But it also makes it harder to overlook lazy character work and some pretty huge plot-holes (like just what was Silva’s plan?). I’d love to hear more thoughts on Skyfall, Protege, and old men with guns, if you got ’em.