007

The iconic number is self explanatory most people will relate to the umpteen number of movies and the iconic tune associated with the much loved movie series. Right now the latest Bond Movie is up for release which is tipped to be the swansong for the lead actor Daniel Craig. 

Watching Skyfall,a few years back brought  joy to the traditional 007 fans like me. I am a person who started reading James Bond books before watching any of his movies. Thanks to my Dad's book collection I have read a good number of books before watching my first movie of the series in celluloid viz 'Tomorrow never dies'. And that too many years after its release in Star Movies. Being a teenager I still remember that my request for seeing that movie was turned down rather vehemently. Later I realised that the reason for it was that the movie was given an Adult Rating at that time. I was surprised to see how Pierce Brosnan portrayed the action hero. It was nothing like its creator Ian Fleming had envisaged. After watching a few of his films I went back in time and watched the earlier ones featuring Sean Connery and Roger Moore. I realised that when the 007 franchise started off to a certain extent it was true to its book version somewhere down the line they lost the plot. And James Bond came to be associated with insane gadgets and hot chicks.

Back in 2005 when it was announced that Pierce Brosnan would no more be portraying the iconic spy. There was much anticipation as to who will be replacing him. Daniel Craig won the race piping some of the most popular actors of that time. The list included Ralph Fiennes who eventually became a part of the Bond Series as 007’s boss M. Casino Royale was a breath of fresh air with a new actor stepping into the character. It started the trend of going back to the roots of a Bond that Ian had written. It was more of brawn and good old action rather than brainless gadgets and a parade of eye candies. The opening chase of Casino Royale bears testimony to this fact. I was spellbound while watching that in a theater back home in Thiruvananthapuram .For me the soul of Bond lies in the fact that he is a man with a lot of vulnerabilities and of self doubt who goes the extra mile to be what he is, everyone can relate to that. A man who would keep himself alive by the grit of his teeth and his physical strength rather than relying on some stupid gadget to get out of trouble. I am talking from the point of view of a fan of James Bond books.I could see the same in Skyfall as well. There is a scene in the movie where Bond ditches his modern car and chooses a vintage Aston Martin to go on a wild goose chase  with his boss M.The reason was more amusing which is that all the modern cars have tracking devices.

Spectre again was more on the same lines which went on to pay tribute to the character from the books. Here, Bond was shown as aging and trying hard to keep up with the pace of his job. At many levels it reminded me of the fact that I was also ageing, so it had a personal connect as well.The opening sequence of the movie culminating with Bond eventually getting shot was also quite exhilarating  . Here M was replaced by a male character Judi Dench had portrayed the role of Bond's boss with aplomb since 1996 which was seen as going back to its roots of the book version.

Q(Quartermaster) another recurring character was replaced by Ben Whishaw starting from Skyfall. There is a scene where the young Q hands over a special purpose pen to Bond and tells him that they stopped making gadgets anymore.In another scene young Q tries to belittle Bond over his advancing age to which Bond replies with aplomb in the field experience is much more important than being a computer geek.

Money Penny the secretary of Bond's boss had been written and portrayed as a desk agent from time immemorial. The character got a 360 degree makeover and was made a field agent assisting Bond in his missions. This was totally different from the character that was written by Ian Fleming and also portrayed in the movies so far. Naomi Harris has taken this once dormant character to new heights of bravado within the few movies that she has acted in.

On an ending note a word about Daniel Craig, for me he is only second best to Sir Sean Connery when it comes to portraying the secret agent on screen. Back in 2005 when he was announced as the replacement for Pierce Brosnan there were lot of apprehensions as to weather he could essay the iconic spy. But he has put all those naysayers to sleep with his fine performance since then .