Director: Terence Young
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rating: B
Prior to last night I had never actually watched a single James Bond movie. I’d seen bits and pieces growing up – my dad
was a fan – but I’d never watched an episode from start to finish. Having now done so I’m not entirely sure what
to think. I wouldn’t say that Dr. No is a bad movie, but it’s
definitely not what I expect when I think of an action movie – although a huge
part of that would be the result of cultural differences that have developed
since the 60s.
Another thing that may be an element of its time is the sheer
simplicity of the plot: a British intelligence agent, John Strangeways (Timothy
Moxon), is ambushed and killed in Jamaica.
The result is that MI6 agent James Bond (Connery) is tasked with going
to Jamaica and investigating the death – and determining whether or not it’s
related to a cooperation with the CIA on a case involving the disruption of rocket
launches. While in Jamaica Bond liaises
with CIA operative Felix Leiter (Lord) and Strangeway’s employee Quarrel
(Kitzmiller) and sleeps with the film’s Bond girls. He also learns about the reclusive Dr. No
(Wiseman), who owns the island of Crab Key – which is reportedly guarded by
dragons.
I have to say I enjoyed the simplicity of the plot. It’s something that you really don’t see a
lot of these days, especially in action movies.
There’s always some sort of twist – or at least an attempt at one – as
the screenwriters and directors try to keep their audiences guessing. I did find Dr. No to be a bit predictable, but I’m not entirely sure how much
of that is a consequence of my being very familiar with post-Bond action movies
– many of which utilize similar tropes that I expect would not have been as
over used at the time – and how much of it is simply that the film is
predictable. I really liked how all the
things that you associate with a James
Bond film were already present in Dr.
No, despite it being the first of the series – there’s the “Bond, James
Bond,” line, the martinis, the Bond Girls, and the theme song that instantly
makes you think of Bond. I’m sure there
were other elements that are very thematic of the series but not necessarily as
well known as well, and I’m looking forward to picking up on them as I continue
with the series.
I did really enjoy Connery as Bond, although I have to say he wasn’t
exactly the most charming of heroic characters.
I’m used to my action heroes going through a girl (or two) a movie, I’m
just not used to them being so… well, for lack of a better word, Bond is rather
chauvinistic. You can see a bit of TonyStark in him (or perhaps you can see a bit of Bond in Stark?), but something
about the straightforwardness of the character makes it really
unappealing. You can also see this in
the fact that his sidekick is a plucky black guy who seems to do as much of the
work as Bond – if not more – but neither gets credit nor girl. The girl was similarly portrayed; she
struggled between being a damsel in distress and a distressed damsel, but
either way she was there so that Bond could save and woo her. Really rather one sided – but then, I think
the only character that had development in this movie was Bond himself. It was a fun and simple journey, but I don’t
think it was an overly developed one. Once
again, though, that could just be an element of the genre and the time. Random Bond fact: while Ursula Andress portrays Bond Girl Honey Ryder two other actresses (Nikki van der Zyl and Diana Coupland) voiced her, one for her speaking and the other her singing. Neither of them were mentioned in the film's credits. Joseph Wiseman, however, was the only early Bond villain to not have his voice dubbed by another actor.
No comments:
Post a Comment