Saturday 22 November 2008

saw Quantum of Solace, the new Bond movie, yesterday afternoon with the wife of my bosom. One thing I like about the way this last couple with Daniel Craig have gone is that the old style villain's lair has been discarded. The big showdown inside the lair was always the part of the movie that bored me. As soon as you realise they're into that part, you know it's strictly formula from here on, usually with the villain's monologue and all the usual fittings.
"They (these lairs) should be embedded in the material culture of the times - albeit with the resources of a meglomaniac millionaire or billionaire - and also able to reach a little bit beyond into a near-future as those resources allow."(link below)

Wired has a photo gallery: Bond Villain lairs revealed
As essential as the curvaceous leading ladies and not-so-subtle sexual innuendo, every James Bond villain has an impressive lair. Some are exotic, others chic. All are impressive locations for unsavory types to plot and scheme."
This article at Magical Nihilism explains the change with some insight:
Who Stole My Volcano? Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dematerialisation of Supervillain Architecture.
"The modern Bond villain (and he might have added, villains in pop culture in general) is placeless, ubiquitous, mobile. His hidden fortress is in the network, represented only by a briefcase, or perhaps even just a mobile phone.
...for a “4th generation warfare” supervillain there aren’t even objects for the production designer to create and imbue with personality. The effects and the consequences can be illustrated by the storytelling, but the network and the intent can’t be foreshadowed by environments and objects in the impressionist way that Adam (Ken Adam, production designer of numerous Bond films) employed to support character and storytelling."
On the other hand, nowadays we have the video game:
The game's developer, Garrett Young, says Daniel Craig is a keen gamer who was excited yet nervous about how he would look in a videogame.
"But once he saw it, he was happy and much more comfortable," Mr Young said.
"Then he grabbed the controller out of my hand and just started running around and playing. He is a gamer, so he picked up the controls right off the bat.
"Then he started getting killed a lot, so I told him about cover. Once he started taking cover, he was really successful."

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