Posts Tagged ‘McGuffin’

Short Take: The most revealing Bond film yet, with one of the best Bond villains in decades. Fitting for a 50th anniversary.

Director: Sam Mendez

Screenwriters: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan

Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw

Length: 2h 23m

We stare down a dark, anonymous hallway. The light from a distant window orients us only slightly, leaving the vacant walls bathed in shadow. Suddenly, a dark figure appears. From the deliberateness of his movements and the musical score’s pang of an accented trumpet we know that it could only be one man. He walks toward us with no wasted movement, gun in hand, stopping only inches away. A bar of light reveals eyes that glow with caution and heightened adrenaline. He’s looking for someone. In a nearby room he finds a bleeding agent and some scrapped computer parts. The hard drive is gone. No time to lose. Bond gives chase.

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Short Take: Redeems the first sequel. A fun an fulfilling ride.

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Screenwriter: Etan Cohen; Lowell Cunningham (comic)

Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson

Length: 1h 46m

Synopsis: Long before K (Jones) and J (Smith) became partners there was a nefarious alien named Boris the Animal (Clement), who by some stroke of luck was captured sans one arm back in 1969 by K and sent to a prison on the Moon. Now, forty years later, Boris has escaped and is looking to get revenge. His plan is to time travel back to 1969 and kill K, allowing himself to roam free and eventually lead his race to taking over the Earth. When J realizes K is missing, the MIB claim he had been dead for forty years. After traveling back in time himself, J must prevent K’s murder and help ensure the correct passing of events to protect the future. The trouble is, the younger K (Brolin) and ‘60s MIB have a hard time believing J’s predicament. In earning the trust of the younger version of the partner he’d known for years, J tries to take advantage of the opportunity to find out more about K than his older self would divulge. As it so happens, what he discovers changes their relationship forever.

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