James Bond...always to the mission, never to his friend

Alec Trevelyan was everything that you'd want in a bond villain; cocky, vain, loved to hear himself talk, and prone to making baffling mistakes. In the storied history of the Bond franchise, Trevelyan surely ranks near the top. But what makes Trevelyan truly stand out is just how deep his character was.

To the average layman, the story is simple. Trevelyan betrays his country and Bond for his own personal and financial gain. But to say that would be a simplification at best, and a complete fallacy at worst. Trevelyan is, perhaps, one of Sean Bean's most misunderstood characters, a man who's motives and beliefs run deeper than what we can see easily on the surface.

We begin with the opening scene of the movie. Trevelyan and Bond infiltrate the facility (I can't remember the names of the actual places, so I'll call them by their video game level names). The mission is to blow up some gas tanks or something, and before getting to that point, Trevelyan makes it clear that Bond must set the timers to 6 minutes.

Remember, these two are best friends, they trust each other with their lives, and, in theory, should be willing to give up their life for the other, even if it is in vain. Mind you, at this point, Trevelyan already has his scheme made up, and while he is "betraying" Bond, Bond doesn't know that and, of course, would never have known that if he would have been willing to die for his friend.

But of course, Bond only cares about the mission and saving his own behind. He sets the timer for 3 minutes, and in the process, blows up Trevelyan's face. Bond should not have done that. Trevelyan made it clear that he had to set it for six minutes, and if Bond was a friend, and not some lap dog for MI6, he would've listened and not have disobeyed and betrayed his friend.

That's right, I say Bond betrayed Trevelyan. "You were supposed to die for me," Trevelyan says in one scene. He's not saying it like the way other Bond villains say it. Usually, what they are saying is that Bond was supposed to die. But Trevelyan is different. He's talking about how Bond was supposed to die for him. Bond was supposed to be a sacrifice, and Bond was supposed to be willing to sacrifice himself because that's what friends do.

We must also address Trevelyan's main motive for his actions, which was revenge against MI6 for the British betrayal of his parents. Trevelyan's parents had defected to Britain following the end of the Second World War. The British, however, refused to take his parents in, leaving them in Russia. While his parents survived the execution squads, his father, ashamed at having survived, killed himself and Trevelyan's mother. That'd be bad enough if it all ended there, but then MI6 adopted Trevelyan, and raised him to be a double 0, and brainwashed him into not remembering his true origins. It's the ultimate slap in the face for Trevelyan. It's no surprise that he'd want revenge against the people that caused his parents death and raised him to work for those very same people.

Remember, Sean Bean is the master of the justifying speech. When he speaks, people tend to listen, and if you take the time to truly feel what he's saying, you'll start to agree with him, and even feel sorry for him.



Listen to his speech above and try to really feel his pain. He's a man who's been betrayed by a country, and betrayed by a friend. He's a man who just wanted to make things right. You can feel his pain at knowing that he never truly had a friend in Bond.

"I did think of asking you to join my little scheme," Trevelyan says, "but somehow I knew, 007's loyalty was always to the mission, never to his friend."

Perhaps the most telling part about Trevelyan is his failure to kill Bond. Now, some attribute it to incompetence. But I see it differently. I see his failure to kill Bond as a sign of man still trying to keep a friendship alive. It's not that he couldn't kill Bond, its that he couldn't get himself to kill Bond. There were multiple times in the movie when Trevelyan could have simply shot Bond in the face. But he didn't do that. He placed Bond in easily escapable timed traps, simply because the friend in him couldn't bear to kill his friend, even though Bond had betrayed him.

And how does Bond repay his friendship? He drops Trevelyan off of a satellite tower. After everything Trevelyan had done, after all the times Trevelyan couldn't bear to kill his friend, Bond's cold heart simply ignored their years of friendship, and dropped him, just like that.

James Bond. Always to the mission. Never to his friend. Remember that when you watch this film again. Then tell me how Trevelyan is so bad. All I see is a man yearning for friendship. A man who wants to make things right. And a man that was betrayed and left broken by his best friend. That's all I see.

Sean Bean Named One of Hollywoods 10 Most Evil Actors? I object!

This might be a little old, but in case you haven't seen it, someone made a list of Hollywood's "10 Most Evil Actors," that is, actors who just look evil and always play the villain. See it here. 10 Most Evil Actors in Hollywood. No surprise with some of these names.

Jason Isaacs, for example, is just pure evil. His British General in "The Patriot," is still one of the most villainous performances of all time. That guy did everything. He killed two of Mel Gibson's kids, burned down a church full of people, and would have killed Mel Gibson too if he had just swung his sword diagonally so that Mel Gibson couldn't dodge it, instead of doing the stupid movie move of swinging a weapon in a way that is easily dodged. In terms of villains, that guy is just straight EVIL! But, I digress...

Sean Bean made the list as well, which probably isn't a surprise to the untrained eye. But to the trained, watchful eye, it's easy to see just how "not evil" he is. "Bean squints, scowls and glares his way into villainous roles with such flair that the tiniest narrowing of his eyes can scare an audience," the article notes.

And while he does squint and scowl and glare his way into roles, its not because he's a villain. He's squinting and scowling and glaring because of how confused he is, confused at the way he's being treated by other characters in the movie. Sean Bean does everything with the best intentions. He is the master of the justifying speech, and if you listen to his speeches, you might just agree with him as well.

Listen to him in Goldeneye or in National Treasure, and try to understand where he is coming from. Watch the beginning of "Don't Say a Word" and tell me you aren't hurt when you see the look on his face after he is betrayed. (Don't even get me started on how he was treated in that movie!). Listen to Boromir and what he has to say. He's not evil, he's just being misunderstood.

I've got more to come, but thought this was an interesting list, and one that I most vehemently object to, and hopefully, in the near future, you will too.

National Treasure: How Nicholas Cage Betrayed Sean Bean

When we last left off, Sean Bean had just finished watching his good friend, Nick Cage, make off with the Declaration of Independence. If you recall, earlier in the film, Nick Cage had refused to steal the Declaration with Bean, and even went as far as to say "Ian [Sean Bean's Character], I'm not going to let YOU steal the Declaration of Independence." (apparently, that means that he will let himself steal the Declaration)

If you can also recall, these two were great friends, or at least business partners. When the entire historical community had turned against Nicholas Cage and his family, Sean Bean was right there, financing Cage's cooky dream.

But when the moment came, and big action needed to be taken, what happened to Bean? He was betrayed, as often happens, by his own friend. It'd be fine if it all ended there. But for Cage to then create his own plan to steal the Declaration without Bean is a literal stab to the back. Poor Sean Bean. All he wanted was to share in the glory with Cage, and Cage had to go out of his way to betray Bean and steal the Declaration for himself. It's a shame.


Do you see that look on Bean's face? That's the look of a man who has been betrayed. It's a look of genuine hurt.


So, getting back on track. We continue with the movie. With the Declaration stolen, naturally, the FBI will be on the case. They have video evidence showing Nick Cage steal the Declaration. So why are we labeling Bean the villain here? At this point in the movie, Bean hasn't even done anything illegal. (well, maybe trying to kill Nicholas Cage, but, I would argue, he didn't want to kill Cage in the first place, and really, he was protecting himself from Nick Cage betraying him)

And Cage is even captured by the FBI, with the FBI guy telling him that he has two options: 1) Go to jail for a really long time, or 2) Give back the Declaration, and go to jail for a really long time. As the FBI guy so succinctly puts it, "someone's has to go to jail." It's at this point that Cage pulls his biggest betrayal every by putting the frame on Sean Bean.

You see, at the end of the movie, Sean Bean goes to jail. Why? NICK CAGE STOLE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE! He should be the one going to jail, not Sean Bean! And what makes this even more tragic is the fact that Sean Bean - always the class act - breaks Nick Cage out of FBI custody.

And even after being broken out of custody by Bean, Cage is still pulling his little tricks throughout the movie. Bean, true to his word, breaks Cage out, meets him at the correct spot, and, as per the deal they made, gives Cage back all his little trinkets as long as he tells him everything he knows. Bean follows the deal right to the letter. But Cage is always looking for the upper hand and betrays Sean Bean some more, leaving out important details and seemingly forgetting that he made a promise to Bean to tell him everything he knew.

Bean does everything for his old friend, and without Bean and his help, Cage would never have gotten the treasure. But at the end, Cage frames Bean for a crime he never committed (stealing the declaration of independence), and doesn't even give Bean credit for helping him find the treasure. And yet, we - the audience - came out of that movie thinking Cage was the hero. All I see here is a devious Nick Cage, a man who betrayed the trust of his friend, used his friend for money, and then kept the treasure and the glory for himself while pinning a crime that he should have gone to jail for on an innocent man. It isn't right.


Look at Bean in this picture again. He looks like he's about to cry. And I don't blame him. His good friend betrayed him, stole the treasure for himself, and left him out to dry. Remember this face. You'll see it again in other movies, I guarantee that.

An Analysis of the Key Beginning Scene in National Treasure

So I've been going through the movie some more and watching and rewatching that opening scene, and I still can't figure out any way to see how the rest of the movie can shape Nicholas Cage as the hero of the movie. Let's re-examine the dialogue in this scene.



Fast forward to 7 minutes in and lets listen to them speak to each other. Here's what they say:

Bean: "We could borrow it."

Cage: "Steal it? I don't think so."

...

Bean: "Look Ben, I understand your bitterness, I really do. You spent your entire life searching for this treasure only to have the respected historical community treat you and your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces and I want you to have the chance to do that."

[Bean then goes on to say how he'll make the arrangements and get them the document.]

Cage: "No..."

Bean: "I really need your help here." (remember, these two are partners!)

Cage: "I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence!"


So when you watch this scene again, does Bean really seem like the one doing the betraying? There's two things I see here. First, Bean wants to, not only get the treasure for his own good, but also for Cage's good. He wants Cage to be able to be redeemed for all the years he spent hunting for this treasure. Second, when Bean says, "I really need your help here," Cage responds with "I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence." I would be shocked if I were Bean. Two friends, working together to get the treasure, and now one of them says that he won't let the other get the treasure. So is Bean really the bad guy here? What do you think?

And don't forget, just moments later, Nicholas Cage concocts his own plan to STEAL THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE! Why didn't he just work with Bean in the first place!?

Sean Bean Misunderstood in newest film!

So, for all you Sean Bean fans out there, we've got a new movie coming out called Ca$h and it promises to be classic misunderstood, unfairly portrayed Sean Bean. Here's the trailer for it, courtesy of YouTube.



Obviously, I haven't seen this movie yet, but I can get an idea of what happened from this trailer. Clearly, the briefcase of money belongs to Sean Bean. I don't know how he obtained this money - maybe through illicit means - but still, it's clear that the briefcase of money belongs to him.

Enter Chris Pine of the new Star Trek fame. Edit: Apparently this is some guy named Chris Hemsworth. He looks exactly like Chris Pine. It is ridiculous! He's broke, he needs money, and lo and behold, a briefcase of money falls from the sky. Does he think twice about who's money it is? Does he think that whoever the money belongs too doesn't need it? Is he so selfish that he's going to spend all of someone else's money on fresh clothes, fancy dinners, a new car?

Well, naturally, Sean Bean wants his money back. And those guys better pay him back or do something to either get him his money or in some way pay off his debt. Is it so unreasonable to make someone rob a bank in order to pay you back money that they wrongfully spent? I don't think so.

National Treasure: His Most Misunderstood

Lets go over the plot real quick to refresh your memory about this gem of a movie. Nicholas Cage (the hero) & Sean Bean (the villain) are working together to find this treasure. Sean Bean "betrays" Cage, goes out to steal the Declaration, and without the heroics of Cage, would've gotten away with it to. But was that really what happened in the movie?

Lets go through this movie step by step. In the beginning, we're introduced to these two treasure hunters; Nicholas Cage playing the academic, and Sean Bean playing the financier. Check out that equipment they have. You think broke-ass Nick Cage could pay for all that? Hell no. Sean Bean paid for everything. Now, at the beginning, these two seem like great friends. They're laughing it up, having a good time. So far, so good.

But then, we come to the turning point of the movie. Once Cage figures out that the next clue is on the back of the Declaration of Independence, Bean, being the resourceful man and good friend of Cage, decides that he'll set up the operation to steal the Declaration. Here is Nicholas Cage, who has spent his entire life trying to get this treasure, who is right on the cusp of getting the treasure together with his good friend, and what does he say. He says no, and essentially says, "not only am I not gonna steal the Declaration of Independence with you, I'm gonna snitch on you and make sure you can't get it either."

Ok, so we're that far. If you need a recap, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ciUNC3U3I4, forward to 8 Minutes into the video, and watch Sean Bean get betrayed by his own friend.

Now, of course, Sean Bean is going to go get the Declaration of Independence on his own. After all, his good friend, Nick Cage, decided he wanted no part of it. But in perhaps the most bizzare twist in the movie, Nicholas Cage, after being so adamant against stealing the Declaration, decides that he's going to steal it before Bean can get his hands on it. Wait, what!? Why didn't Cage just work together with his friend like Sean Bean originally wanted. How does it make sense to steal something that you were against stealing in the first place? Essentially, Cage is just out to spite Bean.

And Cage steals the declaration thinking he's the good guy. His reasoning, essentially is similar to this: "In order to stop this bank from being robbed, I'm going to rob it first!" And take a look at Sean Bean's face when he walks in to see his once dear friend with the Declaration. You can see how confused he is to see him there, not confused because he thought Cage was dead, but confused at why Cage decided that he didn't want to steal the Declaration, then suddenly changed his mind and decided to steal it by himself.It's the look of being betrayed, the look of man who was far too trusting and not quite understanding what he did to deserve this. You'll see this look on his face many more times, not just in this movie, but in almost all his movies.

I'll continue some more later, but I've laid the foundation for how this movie pulled the biggest fast one on us we've ever seen and tricked us into believing Nick Cage was the hero, and Sean Bean was the villain, when in reality, Sean Bean was the one betrayed and played like a fool.

To Be Continued...

Sean Bean is Misunderstood

Now, I've been watching Sean Bean movies for a while now and like most of you, I thought the same thing when I first saw him...this guy plays the villain in every movie. I was first exposed to him more than a decade ago when I first saw Goldeneye. He was the typical Bond villain: vain, cocky, prone to making baffling mistakes (why not just shoot Bond in the head instead of rigging easily escapable timed explosions?).

But then I saw a movie that changed my worldview forever. National Treasure starring Nicholas Cage as the "hero" and Sean Bean as the "villain." I remember getting to the end of this movie, thinking over what just happened, and wondering to myself, "Why did Sean Bean go to jail?"

It was the typical Hollywood treatment of Bean. We've been duped so long into thinking of him as a villain that even when he's being betrayed and dumped on by his friends, we still see him as the villain, rather than the victim.

You're probably wondering what I mean by this? Surely, you say, he was the villain in National Treasure. After all, he tried to steal the Declaration of Independence, and the only person who could stop him was Nicholas Cage. Is that really what happened? If you watch that movie again, you might have second thoughts.

In this blog, I'm going to watch each of Sean Bean's movies and prove definitively that Sean Bean is too often being being given the label of the villain. But he is never just a villain. There is always something more to him, something that we - the audience - aren't paying attention to. At worst, he's a villain, but a misunderstood one. But more often than not, he's the one being betrayed by someone, and being unjustly portrayed as the one doing the betraying. Watch his movies, follow along, and maybe we can change how people view this honorable man...