Humor for Bond 22?

Everyone’s talking about the Daily Express interview wherein Craig hints at a funnier Bond 22.

Craig, 39, says of his forthcoming second outing as 007: “They [the producers] just want more gags. The next one’s going to be a lot funnier. Octopussy and Pussy Galore style gags. They’re all great names – but that’s the thing, the Bond jokes will be flipped on their heads.”

Now, I can’t even begin to link to all the fansites and movie boards and articles that link to this quote. But perhaps I should throw my two cents down.

I’m in the mood to trust the producers. I was horrified by the decision to cast Craig, and I was proven wrong. Yay for being wrong. Craig was awesome, CR was awesome, and I’m not expecting much disagreement on those points. More than just making a fantastic movie, I think that MIchael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli showed us they found a direction for their hero, they are grounded, they know what they’re doing. I think they were floundering, perhaps since Cubby‘s death, but certainly since Dana‘s. To me, CR says the second generation of Bond producers has come into their own. So I’m not inclined to panic.

Further, they’ve re-hired Paul Haggis for script polish. Haggis is Not A Funny Guy. If Purvis and Wade were handing in the final script, well I think we all know how lame their one-liners can be. But Haggis is not that guy, and Haggis certainly reined in the sillies his last time out.

Perhaps Bond 22 won’t be as dark as CR. That’s okay; they shouldn’t all be the same! But I’m not worried about double-taking pigeons.