In a candid interview that got people talking in Hollywood, Pierce Brosnan, the former James Bond star, once opened up about his issues with the 2015 movie ‘Spectre‘. He didn’t like the film’s slow pace and said it seemed confused about what kind of movie it wanted to be. But he still had nice things to say about Daniel Craig’s acting.
Brosnan played Bond four times, starting with ‘GoldenEye‘ in 1995 and ending with ‘Die Another Day‘ in 2002. He said he was really looking forward to watching the twenty-fourth Bond film. However, after seeing Craig’s fourth time as 007, Brosnan felt let down. “I was looking forward to it enormously,” Brosnan told HitFix. “I thought it was too long. The story was kind of weak — it could have been condensed. It kind of went on too long. It really did.”
The Identity Crisis Behind ‘Spectre’
Brosnan didn’t just complain about the length. He pointed out that the movie seemed to have a bigger problem. He thought director Sam Mendes couldn’t find the right mix between the old school Bond style and the newer, tougher, more realistic spy movie style.
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This was probably the sharpest part of what Brosnan had to say. He said ‘Spectre‘ was stuck somewhere in the middle, and that it wouldn’t fully please fans of the classic Bond movies or fans of the Jason Bourne style. “It is neither fish nor fowl. It’s neither Bond nor Bourne,” Brosnan said. “Am I in a Bond movie? Not in a Bond movie?”
High Praise for Daniel Craig Despite the Flaws
Even though Brosnan was hard on the movie’s structure and how long it was, he made sure to say Daniel Craig wasn’t the problem. He actually praised Craig for how he had grown into the role. He noticed a real change in how Craig acted on screen, and said that was what made the movie worth watching despite its flaws. “Daniel had a nice looseness to him,” Brosnan said. “He’s a mighty warrior, and I think he found a great sense of himself in this one, with the one-liners and a nice playfulness there.”
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Brosnan knows how hard it is to play Bond, both physically and mentally. He understood why Craig looked so tired during the press tour, but he said the answer for the Bond series was simple. They just needed a better script. “Just get a tighter story, and he’ll have another classic,” Brosnan said.
‘Spectre‘ made nearly $880 million around the world, even though many critics agreed with Brosnan that it wasn’t as good as ‘Skyfall‘. Brosnan said he thought Craig would need some time off. “Give him another year off here, and he’ll be ready to rock and roll for sure,” he said, adding that whether people remember ‘Spectre‘ fondly might depend on if future Bond movies take his advice.
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