Thursday, 24 June 2021

One-liner

 


As I was showering this morning I had my phone on shuffle, and it randomly played Helicopter Ride from Tomorrow Never Dies.  As so often happens I heard the dialogue in my head as it played.

Another Carver building.  If I didn't know better I'd say he'd developed an edifice complex.

It's a stupid, throwaway little joke.  Just a single line for a quick gag.  But as I towelled off, it occurred to me: that doesn't happen any more.  Jokes in the Daniel Craig era - when they occur - are placed very deliberately within the film.  There's a kind of "here's the funny bit!" deliberateness; it's Q, so it'll be funny.  It's this one car chase through Rome, so there will be funny bits.  Much as Cubby used to refer to the action sequences as "bumps", the set-pieces that the film is aiming towards, you get the feeling that the funny parts are marked out on a white board somewhere.

I like Bond films that are funny all the way through.  Not all out comedy but a mix.  Action, comedy, sex, that's what I want from a Bond movie, and it feels lost.  007 should be quipping and laughing and being flippant.  I want that back.

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