Bond Prequel Nonsense

I’ve always found amusement in watching pompous people try to prove their intellectual prowess while actualy revealing the lack thereof. A really good example is this post by Karina Longworth at Cinematical, titled “Bond girl rumor #899 – Michelle Yeoh doesn’t know what ‘prequel’ means.”

The gist of the post is this: Yeoh, the marvelous actress most recently seen in MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, appeared opposite Pierce Brosnan in TOMORORW NEVER DIES and recently said she would “jump at the chance of doing another Bond movie…” with actor Daniel Craig, who is playing 007 in the upcoming CASINO ROYALE (a film which, like BATMAN BEGINS, will offer up a younger version of the famous character).

Yeoh’s quote is fairly innocuous. Yet for some reason, Longworth throws a hissy fit. First she accuses Yeoh of “babbling a little bit of nonsense,” then accuses her of “not getting the whole prequel aspect to CASINO ROYALE,” and finally blames other outlets for reporting the quote “with zero attention paid to the fact that an encounter between Yeoh’s character and a CASINO-era Bond would make exactly zero sense.”

First off, it’s hardly nonsensical for Yeoh to hope for another appearance in a Bond film. Although the odds are against her, it is not unprecedented.

Second, the “prequel aspect to CASINO ROYALE” has not prevented Judi Dench from reprising her role as M, so there is no reason to think it would stop Yeoh.

Third, there’s no reason to assume that, if she did return, Yeoh would have to play the same character. Martine Beswicke had played two different (small) roles in FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE and THUNDERBALL, and MAUD ADAMS played two different (lead) roles in MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN and OCTOPUSSY.

The biggest problem with Longworth’s post is that it treats a bit of wishful thinking as if it were some kind of press release. Sure, if Yeoh were claiming she was being considered for the lead in CASINO ROYALE, it might be worth critically examining the statement to see whether it was accurate or hype. But what we have here is clearly nothing more than an actress expressing a desire, not pretending she’s making an official announcement. After all, what would you expect her to say — “No, you couldn’t pay me enough money to ever appear in another Bond film”?

Update: We neglected to note the most obvious problem with Longworth’s article: CASINO ROYALE is not a prequel but a reboot.