This weekend Martin Campbell saw his latest film, Green Lantern, hit theaters, but Campbell is probably best known for The Mask of Zorro and rebooting the James Bond franchise… twice. Campbell’s GoldenEye brought Bond back to the big screen for the first time since 1989’s Licence to Kill. Then, after Pierce Brosnan’s turn as 007 continued to go further and further downhill, finally ending in 2002 with Die Another Day, Campbell brought Bond back from the dead yet again in 2006 with Casino Royale with Daniel Craig in the lead role.
In 2008 Marc Forster picked up the Bond mantle with Quantum of Solace, a film that wasn’t favored by critics as much as Casino Royale (though I actually slightly prefer it to the former), and now Campbell has taken this moment to speak out on the film, which I actually just finished watching the last half on USA’s James Bond marathon. It’s one of the reasons I even decided to write about this story as I found the timing of the following quote a bit ironic.
Campbell, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, “Oh, I thought it was lousy, and hopefully this next one will be terrific,” he said. “Sam Mendes is directing it and I’m sure it’ll be terrific.” And that’s not all he had to say.
“I just thought the story was pretty uninteresting,” Campbell said. “I didn’t think the action was related to the characters. I just thought overall it was a bit of a mess really.”
Now, while I actually enjoy the experience of watching Quantum of Solace a bit more than I do Casino Royale, I can’t argue with a thing Campbell is saying. Quantum‘s story was a bit of a mess and the action didn’t relate to the characters. The villain was also rather weak, but I just enjoy the intensity of it. I loved the degree to which they took the “Bond goes rogue” element.
As Campbell mentioned, Mendes is directing James Bond 23, which is expected to go into production later this year for a November 9, 2012 release.
You tell me, what do you think of Campbell’s comments and are you looking forward to Mendes taking over?
