2. The Importance Of A Good 'Bond Girl'
Casino Royale got many things right but perhaps my favourite of all is the way Vesper Lynd is written and portrayed; shes a brilliant Bond girl (a traditional cinematic short-hand Im not overly comfortable with but shall use for the sake of expediency.) Shes smart, intelligent, witty and likable, really becoming Bonds equal. I love this even more because theres been a tendency in later Bond movies to compensate for the sexist portrayal of women earlier on in the franchise by trying too hard to balance it out; either making the Bond girl kick-ass or an intellectual (note the awful casting of Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist). Theres nothing inherently wrong with making the 'Bond girl' a gun toting heroin or a brainy scientist but if they have no characteristics other than this then they become boring and one note. Eva Green as Vesper, however, manages to cut through all the anxiety and stigma surrounding the role of Bond girls and genuinely delivers a well-rounded character who proves more than an equal for 007. Through her intelligence, delivered naturally within the script, and without having to be kick-ass (in fact her character reacts very naturally to the violent nature of Bonds work; with fear and trauma), she became my favourite Bond leading lady. The first meeting of Vesper and Bond aboard the train is a beautiful scene, Craig and Green share a great chemistry, the dialogue crackles and Vesper more than holds her own against Bonds witty quips; interestingly it is Bond who leaves the conversation far more taken with her than she with him. Vesper is great precisely because she isn't portrayed as a sexual object, but nor is she some overcompensating attempt to make a feminist statement; instead shes just a natural, well written character who Bond falls for; an infinitely better antidote to the sexism of past Bond films. The film is so much richer for her presence; the love story feels organic rather than merely necessary and makes the end of the film truly heartbreaking.
Quantum of Solace doesn't really deliver any particularly memorable Bond girl moments; Agent Fields is charming enough but definitely a throw-back to older Bond films and Olga is a relatively forgettable lead, but in fairness she barely plays the role of a traditional Bond girl at all. Skyfall could equally be accused of slightly under-delivering when it comes to providing a great 'Bond girl'; certainly Eve and Bond have a fun and witty relationship but it never becomes the focus point of the film. However declaring the film as failing on this level is a little superficial as it becomes clear that it is actually Judi Dench's M who is the main 'Bond girl' this time around. Giving Dench the opportunity to show off her acting chops was a stroke of genius, and the hard to define relationship between M and Bond eventually became the heart of the film. They share a mutual respect and care for each other, perhaps even sharing a certain kind of love, though of course neither is sentimental enough to admit it. Dench has been playing this character for seventeen years now, she was the only survivor of the reboot and Skyfall is the first film to really show you why; Dench knows this character incredibly well and puts in a stellar performance. So what can Bond 24 learn from this? Simply that a good 'Bond girl' doesn't have to be some feminist statement, although of course the franchise must never return to its sexist roots, but instead should simply be a compelling well written character. Equally the relationship with Bond doesn't have to be purely romantic, as demonstrated by the use of Dench in Skyfall, which could potentially open up a whole range of possibilities for future Bond movies to take avantage of.