As if choosing a Bond with a chewed up face and a no smoking ban wasn’t bad enough–Miss Moneypenny will not be featured in Casino Royale, the upcoming Bond film. Why? She is featured in Ian Feming’s book of that name, which is the first in the Bond series, so there is no reason to remove her. Plus, she serves as continuity for the series.

And Moneypenny is not the reason for the downhill trend of the franchise. It was poor scripts, the decision to sacrifice story for stupidity, and a move away from a story line based more on Bond’s ingenuity rather than silly gadgets.

The decision to axe Moneypenny, who appears fleetingly in Ian Fleming’s original novel, is the biggest indication yet that the film will deviate substantially from the spirit of previous Bond outings.

I can’t imagine that I would pay to see this new Bond in the theater. Of course, we may all be shocked and it may turn out well, but that surely doesn’t seem to be the case. Stripping the film of “Bondisms” such as smoking and Moneypenny, and choosing an actor who more resembles a member of the Russian mafia rather than a British secret agent, isn’t encouraging.

Please please please–let’s make this Bond movie a real learning experience, and have James not only not smoke, but discuss the dangers of tobacco use. And have him drink orange juice shaken not stirred. And let’s take away his license to kill. And maybe he can lecture about the evils of sexual activity outside of marriage.

Forgot to mention–Q will not be in the movie either. I don’t want to even go there….

Telegraph.com

JAMES BOND will be banned from smoking in his latest film as it could have a bad influence on children — but murder and torture are just fine, Daniel Craig said yesterday after being confirmed as the new 007.

I guess we have to get our priorities straight. Smoking no but murder yes. Children may be damaged from seeing James Bond smoke, but not from seeing him bash in the face of his opponent, or from watching him blow someone’s head off with a machine gun.

James Bond has vices. He smokes. He drinks. And he practices unsafe sex. But now that we’ve banned James from having a cigarette, which is in complete opposition to the character created by Ian Fleming, are we going to forbid him from having a martini, “shaken not stirred?” Or is drinking still okay? I guess the political correctness police haven’t gotten there yet.

And the big question; will James practice safe sex? Will we get to watch him fumble with a condom bag, or will the “girl” confess to having an outbreak of genital herpes?

Bleech, I say. How is James going to sit in a casino without a cigarette, and announce, “The name’s Bond, James Bond?”

It does seem like the producers are really out to deliver the final death knoll to the James Bond franchise. First, their choice of the new Bond. Actor Daniel Craig does not look Bondish–his face looks like it has been around the block one too many times. He reminds me of something you might find in Lord of the Rings, or at the least, a Bond villian. Not Bond. The producers said that they were replacing the 52 year old Pierce Brosnan because they wante a younger actor. Well, I have news for them. At 52, Pierce is in better shape and looks younger than 37 year old Craig.

And now their new “gritty” and “younger” Bond will be cigaretteless. That’s half of his cool, down the drain. At least a cigarette might have given him a hint of the Bond persona.

Oh well. I’l stick to the old Bond DVDs, the Sean Connery/Roger Moore classics, which are blessedly free from political correctness, and don’t make excuses for being fantasies.

TimesOnline