Midnight Bondage

Once, the concept of a "midnight screening" was reserved for the specialist of special blockbuster movies - films for which fans would stand in line for days or even weeks just so they could be among the first to see it on the big screen. (Remember The Phantom Menace?) Lately, however, it's anticipated that any movie with aspirations of being taken seriously by the multiplex public will open with a 12:01 showing. In fact, during the recently expired summer season, many multiplexes routinely scheduled midnight screenings of all new releases, regardless of how desperately awaited they were.

Before this weekend, I had seen only three movies at midnight screenings. It's not an ideal time for me, but a strong cup of coffee is usually sufficient to keep me alert until the end credits. The downside is that drinking the coffee greatly enhances the chances I'll need a bathroom break, especially if it's a long movie. The first midnight showing I attended was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. A publicist's snafu led to my name being omitted from the invitation list so I had to wait until the film was released. The second occasion was Revenge of the Sith. I had already seen and reviewed the film prior to opening day, but I accompanied my wife. Next was Spider-Man 3. For that one, there was no snafu - as a member of the reviled Internet press, I was not invited to an advance screening. Now, add Quantum of Solace to the list.

Once again, this is a case of an anti-Internet bias. I know there were advance screenings for members of the print, TV, and radio media, but my invitation was lost in the e-mail. What makes my banning by Sony more than slightly curious is that the movie was already playing in theaters overseas. In fact, had I been so inclined, I could have downloaded a copy and watched it almost two weeks before its U.S. opening, and had the review up much earlier. (I didn't, and would not consider it for ethical reasons, which is why the review didn't show up until 4 a.m. local time on November 14 - that's when I finished and posted the write-up, less than two hours after getting home.)

But the point of this column isn't to rail against Sony's thick-headedness. It's to provide an account of the experience, which was unlike any of the previous occasions when I had attended midnight openings. For The Fellowship of the Ring, Revenge of the Sith, and Spider-Man 3, there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air. Auditoriums were packed and audiences were stoked. They wanted to be there. They couldn't wait for the movie to start. They were fans. As a critic, I almost felt out-of-place, but I knew what it was like to be in that position. I had been like that for the early Star Trek movies. Those films had not been offered at midnight; if they had been, I would have been there.

The experience for Quantum of Solace was much different. The theater was half-full. There was no excitement. Some of the people there seemed to be present simply because they had nothing better to do late at night on a Thursday. It was Bond, Letterman, or Leno. In all honesty, it was a little depressing. In its first weekend out, the film has made a ton of money, but how many people who saw Quantum of Solace were there because they were long-term fans of the 007 franchise and how many were there simply because it was the biggest movie to open since The Dark Knight? Did people flock to this film because of a love of Bond or because there was finally something playing that sounded familiar and interesting?

Much has been made of the fact that Quantum of Solace has provided the highest-ever first weekend gross for a Bond film. While that statement it true, it ignores a few contributing factors. When it comes to number of admissions - a far better yardstick of comparison - this film comes in third place. Approximately 10 million people saw the film in the United States last weekend. Both Goldfinger and Thunderball were better attended, and that was at a time when there were fewer than 25% of the number of screens there are today. So, while it's accurate to state that Quantum of Solace is successful, it's misleading to argue that this represents a peak in 007's popularity.

For audiences, Bond has just become another high profile action-adventure hero. The huge gross of the film is as much representative of audience trends at multiplexes as it is of 007's enduring popularity. The screen Bond has always been an icon; now he's a brand. The movies are dwarfed by the marketing. It doesn't matter whether it is the best of the series or the worst (it is neither). It doesn't matter that the director was clueless when it came to filming and editing action scenes. It doesn't matter that the "James Bond Theme" was largely MIA (until the end credits). Quantum of Solace is a pre-ordained blockbuster, but that status has nothing to do with fans or longtime devotion to a franchise. I wonder if those men and women who queued around blocks in 1964 to see Goldfinger felt the same sense of sadness that I felt at 12:01 a.m. on Friday. Where were all the people one expects at a midnight screening? True, it was a school night, but is Bond's appeal now limited primarily to teenage boys?

The film's opening weekend success did not surprise me, but its early morning failure (at least where I saw it) did.

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