When Amazon bought James Bond, to say I used to be extraordinarily nervous was an understatement. I’m a giant fan of the Bond franchise, from Fleming’s unique books to Albert R. Broccoli & Harry Saltzman’s cinematic adaptation and past. While I do know it’s a franchise with baggage, I’ve bought lots of love for 007.
Part of that love has been fastidiously curated by the individuals in command of the franchise. Amazon bought MGM, the Hollywood studio that backs Bond, however the movie franchise has been a largely household affair since its inception some six a long time in the past. The elder ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, who nabbed the Bond film rights from writer Ian Fleming, was succeeded by his granddaughter Barbara and step-son Michael; the pair stay in command of Bond’s cinematic adventures to this present day.
Thus my fear when MGM, which in the end owns the rights to Bond, was acquired by the world’s foremost evil company. Sure, the artistic aspect of the Bond franchise stays within the fingers of Broccoli’s EON Productions – however now there’d be strain from above. I figured a battle between executives desirous to ‘extract worth’ from the Bond IP and its long-time stewards, who do care about cash however have proven shocking restraint over time, was inevitable.
Questions can be requested. Everybody else has a cinematic universe: why hasn’t 007? Why are they letting 5 – 6 years move between films? What a few spin-off or two? We spent billions to amass this franchise; now you should give again extra. I understand how this works, albeit on a smaller scale, having been by way of company acquisitions myself.
Now, I don’t need to fake EON has been immune to those ideas. Like I mentioned, it too loves a little bit of revenue. Bond is famed for its shameless product placement; I write this bloody article with an Omega Seamaster strapped to my wrist that I positively wouldn’t even personal had I not change into enamored with Pierce Brosnan’s laser-firing variant in GoldenEye. And so far as spin-offs go, that’s been talked about, too – together with in 2002, when EON mulled over the thought of spinning Halle Berry’s American spy Jinx, who appeared in Die Another Day, off to her personal franchise.
But largely, EON has resisted. It’s additionally taken some fairly artistic swings which may’ve given studio execs palpitations, together with the ending of the newest film. And thus it’s simple to think about there would’ve been resistance to the thought of increasing the franchise. But company calls for should even be satiated.
Enter 007: Road to a Million – the perfect company versus artistic compromise I feel I’ve ever seen. Amazon clearly needed a James Bond TV present for Prime Streaming, so EON gave them one. But it’s in all probability not what Jeff Bezos imagined when he okayed the deal.
Road to a Million is, principally, a recreation present. It places pairings of regular individuals into Bond-inspired conditions. They have to finish bodily daunting duties impressed by Bond’s feats within the films to acquire a briefcase, then reply a comparatively easy trivia query from contained in the briefcase to safe their cash. Fail a activity or get a query fallacious, and your recreation is over. But the additional you get, the extra money you’ll go away with. Make it by way of the entire gauntlet and every pair can stroll away with one million kilos.
It’s a easy idea – however in its supply, it’s nonetheless impressively Bondian. The pairings journey the globe to places that appeared within the movies, and infrequently are tasked with immediately recreating a number of the most daring stunts undertaken in these places. Just with much more security gear.
The present gently ramps up over its eight-episode runtime. At first, the contestants are merely given a grueling hike throughout the Scottish Highlands, evoking the imagery of the environment of Bond’s household property as proven in Skyfall. It’s fairly a courageous first episode, in truth, because it’s a really sluggish starter. But fairly quickly they’re within the Swiss Alps, the Atacama Desert, or scaling Rio De Janiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain.
Fans are prone to determine every location as being from at the very least one (or a number of) Bond movies. Sometimes, you’ll spot one thing and instantly know the place that is going. As I watched a pair board Rio’s Cable Cars, I instantly acknowledged the scene from Moonraker, and knew the sequence would finish with the contestants compelled to get onto the roof of the cable automobile mid-descent, identical to within the movie.
As issues progress, the stunts change into extra demanding, and the questions extra devilish. I used to be regularly impressed by the informal brutality of a number of the challenges. In Rio, it wasn’t simply that they needed to do the cable automobile stunt. They began miles away, needed to comply with a clue to be directed to the foot of the mountain, climb up the aspect of it by hand to succeed in the height, and solely then board the cable automobile. By the time they reached the vehicles, these poor guys have been already sweat-drenched and knackered – however they needed to hold going. Oh, and so they solely made it to Rio to start with after following a path of clues scattered throughout a two-day trek by way of the rainforest. Some of that is exhausting stuff.
Acting as a form of connective tissue is Succession’s Brian Cox, who principally performs a Bond villain. There’s no host accompanying the contestants, however from a mysterious lair Cox chews the surroundings and retains monitor of the progress of every pairing. When persons are eradicated, he furiously crosses their names out of his ledger as in the event that they’ve been offed for actual. He makes payphones mysteriously ring close to unwitting contestants, solely to inform them their subsequent prize is a whole lot of miles away. It’s a foolish little function, however he’s having enjoyable with it – and he does form of have that archetypal Bond villain aptitude.
Like I say, all of it feels consistent with the sequence. This is an motion film franchise, however Bond has additionally all the time carried a journey documentary air; lovely places, lavishly shot. You’re meant to see Jamaica in Dr. No and I feel it seems like a good looking place to go to. This is carried forth in Road to a Million, which is in the end a present about regular individuals touring to incredible and delightful locations the world over. It’s a manufacturing bankrolled with American cash, however all of the contestants are from the UK. The prizes are in kilos. It’s as British as Bond himself.
And, in fact, there are the stunts and challenges. These immediately reference the movies – although bizarrely, not one contestant appears to acknowledge the windfall of every problem’s setup. Nobody references the flicks in any respect, in truth. That is maybe a part of the intense method that is approached; it’s not too low-cost in regards to the Bond connection, regardless that it runs by way of the present just like the lettering by way of a stick of British seaside ‘rock’ sweet.
I’ve seen some criticism of Road to a Million that thinks it’s too tacky, and the suggestion is that an actual Bond universe TV present about some form of no-name Double-0 or one thing can be higher. But I essentially disagree – and I really assume Road to a Million is ideal as a respectful method of bringing the franchise to the small display screen whereas EON units the desk for the subsequent film, and a brand new Bond.
It makes use of 007 as a method to elevate a reasonably commonplace recreation present format – and likewise makes use of Bond to obviously inflate the funds method past what exhibits like this may normally get. But it retains the trimmings, together with a pleasant deal with the contestants themselves. Each pairing has a unique background (the daddy and son, the siblings, the ex-cops, the married couple, and so forth), and thus the dynamic between every is totally completely different.
You study their troublesome pasts; they name their mother and father and it doesn’t simply present the decision, however cuts away to their mother and father’ dwelling and exhibits you their background. You see relations develop nearer collectively. They clarify how a horrible incident earlier of their life triggered a phobia in them that the challenges now ask them to confront. Several contestants earnestly specific that they don’t need to fail a activity or get a query fallacious not due to the cash however as a result of they need to proceed on this unbelievable journey with an individual they love. You get to know them, and start to root for them.
Faithful to the franchise and surprisingly missing within the cynicism normally related to huge IP spin-offs, 007: Road to a Million is a Prime Video winner – and effectively price your time. And better of all, it provides me hope that even beneath Amazon, 007 remains to be in good fingers. Now, the wait to study of Daniel Craig’s successor continues…
007: Road to a Million is offered to look at now on Prime Video. If you are not an Amazon Prime subscriber already, you can begin your free 30-day Prime trial as we speak.
