James Bond has a curious stranglehold on movie lovers' brains. We know the series has been dreadful for decades, but we keep showing up because we love this character and this world and we just hope � and sometimes we're rewarded � that each new flick will have just enough classic Bond moments to make the trip to the theater worthwhile. Of course we all know that what the series needs most is a good shakeup. It's clear that the consortium behind the series has made a conscious decision not to hire A-list writers and directors, which would be the best thing for it, so that leaves casting. Which is why it was a thrilling suprise when producer Barbara Broccoli announced that the replacement for Pierce Brosnan would be Daniel Craig, an actor � as in, he can really fucking act � who shares the young Sean Connery's dangerous charisma more than any Bond since. See Layer Cake if you need convincing.
But apparently there's a reason the later Bond movies have been the most successful ever: lots of fans don't want the series to be great, they want it to be familiar. They want it to be completely and utterly predictable. And they are now oh so very angry that Daniel Craig might be spoiling all that for them.
Unless this is a hoax, a savvy joke about idiot fanboys (and the AP didn't get it if it is), the "movement" to boycott Casino Royale and generally badmouth Craig represents an evolutionary advance for today's young audiences. No longer are we content to sit back and be spoon-fed whatever franchise dreck studios choose to put in front of us, these folks are declaring. From now on, we are going to aggressively insist upon dreck. We are going to demand it as our right.
Really, there goes any hope I had for Friday the 13th Part 11.
