Having watched MANIAC episode 1 now… I have to say: photography is very good, storytelling is unusual - up to a point where it feels, to me, unfocused - either because it was supposed to create the feeling of disorientation or because it wanted too much and crammed it all in this episode.
I was surprised to see Jonah Hill slimmed down that much, by the way - I hardly recognized him. His character took some time to get interesting, IMO, so that was a possibly dangerous narrative choice. I confess: after 10 minutes I began to look at my watch. Only after the half point of the episode I relaxed and wanted to know what happened next.
This does not mean that I am worried about Fukunaga directing Bond. The next episodes will potentially change my initial scepticism about MANIAC. Also, the subject matter of this show might just not be my cup of tea.
But there is definitely one thing to learn from this: Fukunaga does have a certain style to tell the story through the camera, but he is thankfully not as IN YOUR FACE, HECTIC, BAM, MUSIC CUE, BAMBAM, QUICK CUT as Boyle. And that is a good thing for BOND 25.
I also think that Fukunaga needs a really good story (as most directors do) to excel. TRUE DETECTIVE had that. BOND 25 needs that, too.
I found that too, but episode 2 does make clear it was an intentional choice. It does make the bold (if risky) choice to always be firmly from one characters perspective, complete with their bias and misconceptions.
i’m 5 in to Maniac and i’m finding it an utterly immersive experience (just as i did True Detective). Fukunaga has a gift for tone and subtext, composition and narration that screams his love for Kubrick.
I really am very excited about Bond 25 and hugely relieved it’s gotten the extra months to hopefully allow Fukunaga to make it his.
Nice picture. I had a chat with a comic book store employee about Bond 25 yesterday. They know I’m a fan because I get the Dynamite series. We both lamented the delays between films, but agreed Craig is a Bond legend. When you consider superhero fatigue, Bond has gone in the exact opposite direction. It creates anticipation but then you’ve got more pressure to get things right.
Very true, and i’m counting with that pressure. Right now it’s immense, I’d say. Craig’s last film, Boyle’s departure, the hiring of a brilliant new director, … They’ve got to make it work, one way or another.
TBH I think he will too, i just find it interesting EON won’t commit to a firm decision on it yet. I get it, hard to make decisions on anything when you don’t know when you can make it, or who is paying the bill.
Making Bond 25 a finale is in itself a good thing to put into marketing, hence why The Dark Knight Rises used it heavily, and Avengers 3 and 4 are plugging the hell out of “it’s an ending!” Line, even though it can only be an ending for 3 of them at most. If EON where decided on it being definitely Craig’s last, they would be pushing that HARD.
As long as Craig can be persuaded / wants to be Bond EON will stick with him - he now is their big draw, their biggest weapon to make MGM and anybody else bow.
And Craig knows that he will never get that much money or attention again - so he probably wants to wait it out.
Once the B.O. goes down it will be another situation. But I find it hard to imagine that BOND 25 will not be a huge seller, maybe even bigger than any film before. And if so, Craig might decide to stick around. Or rest on his laurels, having delivered one final big success.
Part of it is possibly because they don’t want to have to deal with all the “Who’s next?” bombardments and just focus on getting 25 going. They’ve got themselves a nice three month buffer rather than having to rush into production. It’s all for the better IMO.
Eon’s MO has always been going from one production to the next, a film at a time. Comments about Moore’s age started around TSWLM - and Eon just ignored the elephant in the room and did good business with this policy almost a decade afterwards. There’s no reason why they should unnecessarily add one more angle to their already tall order for BOND 25. They didn’t for SPECTRE and hardly anybody noticed it could have been Craig’s last.
The Who’s-next? merry-go-round is going to keep the tabloids in business anyway, nobody at Eon house needs to do a lot about that side of affairs. It’s only sensible to keep all options on the table, even if it were clear from the go this was going to be Craig’s last show - you never know.
Still watching MANIAC (halfway through, still on the fence about it) - but I must say: Fukunaga knows how to deliver low-key, subtle humor. Which bodes well for BOND 25.
