I am well known for being a sucker for James Bond. But this post will be about Alec Trevelyan, I SWEAR.

Having said that, the opening shot – rappelling down a dam wall – is SPECTACULAR.

• The introduction of Alec, as 006 and speaking Russian and interacting with Bond, is glorious.
  • And once again, Bean is proficient with weapons. There’s a lot of shooting.
• We’re back to an English accent, and a pretty posh one at that.
  • Also, short hair. A much better look.
• Alec wanting to be all noble and self-sacrificial… and getting his way, as he gets shot by the Russian officer.
  • “For England!” – what a difference from Patriot Games.
• (It’s a good thing James Bond lives in an alternate universe where gravity works differently, is all I’ll say about the conclusion to the prologue. Also, Tina Turner’s song is one of the great Bond themes… written by Bono and The Edge??)
• NINE YEARS LATER…
• (Famke Janssen deserved better. As did basically every other woman in the Bond franchise, I know. But this is from 1995 and it feels like it’s 1975. Urgh.)
• (Alan Cummings is hilarious, and provides one of my favourite lines.)
• We go for quite a long period without seeing Bean again, for all that he’s listed at the top of the film as “starring”.
• (Eeee Dame Judi! She is absolutely one of the key reasons for why the franchise was able to transition to the 21st century. She’s only 60 in this film.)
• (Eee Desmond Llewelyn. *Hearts* – he’s 80 in this film.)
• (And Robbie Coltrane! … such a good cast.)
• And then BOOM: “hello James” – Alec is back, this time with a scarred face, and is the terrifying arms dealer, Janus, whom Bond has been searching for.
  • Turns out he’s the son of Lienz Cossacks who were betrayed by the British and then died in a murder/suicide; he has been planning for betrayal for years.
  • His posh accent is glorious in this context.
• Long tank/car chase and we’re finally back to Alec, on a very fancy train (whoa, Snowpiercer connection!).
  • Alec forces his attentions on Natalya, cementing his position as a villain.
• Bean rocks a suit very well.
• Seems that Alec is driven more by money than any philosophy or political ideology.
• And then we’re off to Cuba.
• Alec has a surprisingly sophisticated set-up for a secret base.
• He’s far more suave than the Sean of Patriot Games – which is no surprise, given their respective backgrounds.
• Oh and he’s targeting London? How original. And he’s going to steal all the money from the Bank of England and then wipe all the records via his EMP? uhuh.
• Villains should know better than to monologue when they have their enemy in their sights.
• Alec falls off the antenna structure; Bond catches his foot, and then lets him fall, in a nice(?) echo of the opening scene (rappelling down the dam wall).
  • And despite landing on his back from a very great height, what actually kills Alec is the antenna falling on him.

Verdict: Unquestionably A Bad Guy. (He’s presumably been a useful 00 agent for MI6 before his betrayal of the organisation, but he ends his life as an immoral arms dealer and bank robber who is happy to create chaos for money.)

Movies: 2. Beans dead: 2