Bond: Reality or Fantasy

Next week the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, will be springing onto the screen in the latest James Bond adventure, "Casino Royale". This story follows the trend of many recent movies which is to 'reboot' the movie series. After over twenty films, the producers have decided to restart the series and explore the beginnings of James Bond as everyone's favorite super spy. If one goes back and re-reads the original novels of Ian Fleming, we'll be surprised to find that the James Bond in the original novels was a lot harder and harsher than the version seen in some of the more recent Bond adventures. It was getting to the point now that James Bond was a superhero as opposed to a spy. Instead of a cape, he wore a tuxedo and as a result, many people lost interest in his movies.

The producers of "Casino Royale" decided to take a new approach and bring a harder edge to the character. Some may argue against this approach and complain that it takes the character away from what people have come to enjoy. As a fan of both the novels and the movies (most of them) I can honestly say that I am hoping that this new direction works. Why? Well, one thing is the fact that James Bond was straying so far from reality, it wouldn't have been surprising to see him interacting with Scooby-Doo in a future adventure. I started getting worried about the time he adjusted his tie as his boat dove under the waves in the river Thames. I really got worried when he started driving an invisible car.

That's not to say it's a bad idea, but it isn't what people seem to want these days. Part of the appeal of movies like "The Bourne Identity" or "The Bourne Supremacy" is that it shows spies in more or less a real light. They have their own little bits of fantasy in them too, but for the most part it is not something that someone out there with the proper training couldn't do. I would much rather believe that a spy can use his bare hands to fight an opponent rather than having him rely on the latest gadget. That is what reality is. Although we are getting to the point where such fantastic weapons are becoming a reality, nothing will ever surpass the fist.

It seems that this trend will lead to a much more human James Bond. One who will be hurt or harmed. He may still take on 500 armed troops with merely a pop gun, but we can at least expect him to come out with a couple of scars. Some people may argue again that heroes such as James Bond are necessary because we already deal with the realities of life on a daily basis. One can't turn on the TV these days without seeing what is happening to the U.S. troops in Iraq. Good or bad, for or against; no matter what your stance on the war, you cannot deny that the young men and women over there are not facing reality day in and day out. The same goes for those men and women of our nation's clandestine services. Their jobs may not be as fantastic as a James Bond film, but showing the reality of the situation is sometimes much more honorific than any fictionalization could ever be.